Lucian Freud: A Life by Mark Holborn – Hardcover: 250 pages; Phaidon Press (Sep 25, 2019)

A breathtaking visual biography of Freud, told through his own words, unpublished private photographs, and painted portraits.

Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits by Jasper Sharp, David Dawson, Joseph Koerner, Sebastian Smee– Hardcover: 160 pages; Royal Academy of Arts (Dec 3, 2019) Best Seller

In 1964 Lucian Freud set his students at the Norwich College of Art an assignment: to paint naked self-portraits and to make them “revealing, telling, believable ... really shameless.” It was advice that the artist was often to follow himself. Visceral, unflinching and often nude, Freud’s self-portraits chart his biography and give us an insight into the development of his style.

Lucian Freud: Painting People by Sarah Howgate, Martin Gayford (Introduction), Lucien Freud (Painter), David Hockney – Paperback: 96 pages; Yale University Press; 1st edition (Apr 17, 2012) Best Seller

This beautifully illustrated book features fifty of Lucian Freud's portraits and figure paintings, offering an excellent introduction to the work of one of the most innovative figurative artists of the 20th century. Arranged chronologically and ranging over seven decades, from the early 1940s to Freud's death in July of 2011, the book features Freud's portraits of subjects including Kitty Garman and Lady Caroline Blackwood, both of whom were married to the artist; his mother, Lucie Freud; friends and colleagues Martin Gayford and David Hockney; and more formal portraits of subjects including Andrew Parker Bowles and Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Breakfast with Lucian: The Astounding Life and Outrageous Times of Britain's Great Modern Painter by Geordie Greig – Hardcover: 272 pages; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (Oct 22, 2013)

Lucian Freud's paintings are instantly recognizable: often shocking and disturbing, his portraits convey a profound yet compelling sense of discomfort. Freud was twice married and the father of at least a dozen children, and his numerous relationships with women were the subject of much gossip―but the man himself remained a mystery. An intensely private individual (during his lifetime he prevented two planned biographies from being published), Freud's life, as well as his art, invites questions that have had no answer―until now.

A Painter's Progress: A Portrait of Lucian Freud by David Dawson – Hardcover: 276 pages; Knopf; 1st edition (Oct 7, 2014)

For nearly twenty years David Dawson was Lucian Freud’s assistant, companion, and model. Freud moved in rarefied, powerful circles and was tenacious about protecting his privacy. He also carefully avoided distraction. With few exceptions, he wanted only those he knew well, like the late Bruce Bernard, to photograph him. David Dawson, however, was in a unique position, and as Freud became comfortable in the presence of Dawson’s camera, photographing became part of the daily ritual of the studio. These photographs reveal in a most intimate way the subjects and the stages of paintings in progress. Few artists, if any, have had their lives and their work recorded over such a length of time.

Tate British Artists: Lucian Freud by Virginia Button – Hardcover: 96 pages; Tate Publishing (May 3, 2016)

Always creating debate, Freud consistently addressed questions of human existence and perception, testing, through a sustained practice of looking, the possibility of knowing and recording human individuality. In this brand new survey of the artist’s life and work, Virginia Button introduces us to one of the 20th century’s most important artists. The book is organized in seven thematic chapters covering the whole span of Freud’s life and work.

The Lives of Lucian Freud: The Restless Years, 1922-1968 by William Feaver – Hardcover: 704 pages; Knopf (Oct 29, 2019) Best Seller

The first biography of the epic life of one of the most important, enigmatic and private artists of the 20th century. Drawn from almost 40 years of conversations with the artist, letters and papers, it is a major work written by a well-known British art critic.

Lucian Freud: Masters of Art by Brad Finger – Paperback: 112 pages; Prestel (Apr 7, 2020)

This introduction to Freud's life and oeuvre opens with an illuminating essay that explores how Freud's adherence to realism and focus on the human figure moved him in and out of the spotlight until the 1980s when renewed international interest in painting and figuration gave his work a new significance. Stunning reproductions of key works are presented chronologically, allowing readers to see how Freud's brushwork, composition, and use of light evolved over the decades.

Lucian Freud Portraits by Sarah Howgate, Michael Auping, John Richardson – Hardcover: 256 pages; Yale University Press (Apr 17, 2012)

Portraits were central to the work of Lucian Freud (1922–2011). Working only from life, the artist claimed, "I could never put anything into a picture that wasn't actually there in front of me." This major retrospective catalogue surveys Freud's portraits across the seven decades of his career. Featuring the finest portraits from public and private collections around the world, the book explores the stylistic development and remarkable technical virtuosity of an artist regarded as one of the most innovative figurative painters the medium has known.

Man with a Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud by Richard P. Heitzenrater – Paperback: 248 pages; Thames & Hudson; Reprint edition (Sep 24, 2019)

From Man with a Blue Scarf emerges an understanding of what a portrait is, but something else is also created: a portrait, in words, of Freud himself. This is not a biography, but a series of close-ups: the artist at work and in conversation in restaurants, taxis, and his studio. It takes one into the company of the painter who was a friend and contemporary of Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, and Francis Bacon, as well as writers such as George Orwell and W. H. Auden.

Now for the first time as a compact paperback, this book is illustrated with works by Lucian Freud, telling photographs of Freud in his studio, and images by great artists of the past, such as Vincent van Gogh and Titian, who are discussed by Freud and Gayford. Full of wry observations, the book reveals how it feels to pose for a remarkable artist and become a work of art. 63 illustrations

Lucian Freud Herbarium by Giovanni Aloi – Hardcover: 176 pages; Prestel (Oct 15, 2019)

As intimate and meticulous as his revered portraits, Lucian Freud's magnificent paintings and drawings of plant life are gathered for the first time in book form.

The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art by Sebastian Smee – Hardcover: 416 pages; Random House; First Edition edition (Aug 16, 2016)

Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic Sebastian Smee tells the fascinating story of four pairs of artists—Manet and Degas, Picasso and Matisse, Pollock and de Kooning, Freud and Bacon—whose fraught, competitive friendships spurred them to new creative heights.

The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art by Sebastian Smee – Hardcover: 416 pages; Random House; First Edition edition (Aug 16, 2016)

Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic Sebastian Smee tells the fascinating story of four pairs of artists—Manet and Degas, Picasso and Matisse, Pollock and de Kooning, Freud and Bacon—whose fraught, competitive friendships spurred them to new creative heights.