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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case THURSDAY, Shelf SH6.5

Etching Plate

2003 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Lucian Freud is one of the most renowned artists of the later 20th century. He made the etching After Constable's Elm(for which this is the printing plate) around the time of the large exhibition of work by John Constable held in Paris in 2002 (he selected the exhibition, and the small painting Elm (1821) was one of the works included in the show.) The British Council published a book of conversations between Freud and the exhibition curator, critic William Feaver, called Freud on Constable; the print was made especially for this book. The V&A has an impression of the print (E.1063-2003).

The plate is of added interest because Marc Balakjian, the printer, persuaded Freud to cancel the plate unobtrusively by adding his initials top left, rather than by scoring or punching through the image.

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read Lucian Freud and etching Lucian Freud (1922 – 2011) was one of the most renowned British artists of the 20th century. Though he is best known as a painter he was also a keen printmaker, producing versions of many of the subjects featured in his paintings – portrait heads, nudes, dogs and landscapes. These prints w...

Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Etched copper plate
Brief description
Lucian Freud: Copper etching plate for 'After Constable's Elm', 2003
Physical description
Copper etching plate with the image of 'After Constable's Elm', an etching by Freud inspired by Constable's painting in the V&A. Portrait format.
Dimensions
  • Height: 31cm
  • Width: 24cm
Marks and inscriptions
LF (the artist's initials, incised top left, to cancel the plate.)
Credit line
Given by Lucian Freud, with Marc Balakjian and Dorothea Wight of Studio Prints
Subject depicted
Summary
Lucian Freud is one of the most renowned artists of the later 20th century. He made the etching After Constable's Elm(for which this is the printing plate) around the time of the large exhibition of work by John Constable held in Paris in 2002 (he selected the exhibition, and the small painting Elm (1821) was one of the works included in the show.) The British Council published a book of conversations between Freud and the exhibition curator, critic William Feaver, called Freud on Constable; the print was made especially for this book. The V&A has an impression of the print (E.1063-2003).

The plate is of added interest because Marc Balakjian, the printer, persuaded Freud to cancel the plate unobtrusively by adding his initials top left, rather than by scoring or punching through the image.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
E.14-2009

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Record createdFebruary 17, 2009
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