Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Portrait of the Hound
Lucian Freud British, born Germany
Not on view
Freud worked on this canvas of considerable size for four years, even in the weeks immediately before his death, when it was left unfinished on the easel. Depicted from a point of view directly above the sitters are Freud’s long-term assistant and model David Dawson and Eli, Dawson’s whippet. The paint applied to the figure and the bedsheet features Cremnitz White, a type of white lead paint that Freud favored for its hue. The accumulation of paint on the canvas and the way in which the rendering takes shape only if viewed from a certain distance reflects Freud’s deep admiration for the later works of masters such as Hals, Rembrandt, Titian, and Velázquez.
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