Night Portrait Face Down 2000

Lucian Freud made this painting of a figure lying face down on a mattress, and it's all about the way he builds up the paint, layer upon layer, to capture the weight and the slump of the body. You get the feeling he really wrestled with the paint. Look at the texture of the skin, the way he uses these fleshy pinks and yellows, almost like he's sculpting with the brush. It's thick, it's raw, and it's incredibly physical. See the way the light catches on the curve of the back, those thick ridges of paint? Freud wasn't trying to hide anything, he was digging in, getting under the surface. It reminds me of Auerbach, another painter who really piled it on. Ultimately, it's like Freud is saying, "Here it is, the real stuff." No hiding, no pretending, just paint and flesh, and all the messy, complicated stuff in between.