Ill in Paris

While on a trip to Paris in 1946, Freud made his first

etching. Ill in Paris, made two years later, is considered

a masterpiece of this early period. Here Kitty Garman

(British, 1926–2011), Freud’s first wife and frequent

subject, stares at a thorny long-stemmed rose within a

tightly cropped and compressed space. His beautifully

drawn contours and uncanny compositions inspired

critic Herbert Read to call Freud “the Ingres of

Existentialism.” The production of his early prints was

rather rudimentary: Freud etched images on prepared

copper plates and used his hotel room sink for an acid

bath. A local printer, found through Picasso’s nephew,

Javier Vilató (Spanish, 1921–2000), pulled the proofs.

Freud produced only six prints before 1949, at which

time he abandoned the medium for several decades.