Man Posing

Freud's unflinching directness of expression, while undoubtedly unnerving to some viewers, lies at the heart of his artistic aims. In this monumental etching, Freud portrays a middle-aged man, lying nude and open-legged on a couch. The man's awkward pose belies the intensely considered details of his body and the immediate surroundings. Indeed, the very ordinariness of the subject helps capture the man's humanity. Freud describes his work as factual not literal, adding that I paint people not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be.