Susanna 1996

Editor: This is Lucian Freud's "Susanna," a pencil drawing from 1996. It's quite a raw portrait, isn’t it? The lines are so immediate, almost unflattering, capturing a very particular gaze. What strikes you about this work? Curator: It's a quintessential Freud. He’s less concerned with conventional beauty and more focused on the brutal honesty of lived experience, isn't he? Consider the art world in 1996 – postmodernism's deconstruction of the idealized figure was well underway. How does this drawing participate in that dialogue, or perhaps challenge it? Editor: Well, it seems to embrace the unidealized, for sure. The sitter isn't posed to look perfect; she looks quite natural, even tired. I mean, what are we to make of the sitter's gaze towards the viewer? Curator: It is confrontational, isn't it? Consider how Freud avoids sentimental representation. By the late 90s, the art market was increasingly obsessed with celebrity and spectacle. Freud steadfastly refused to glamourise his subjects, challenging those societal trends. Editor: It's almost an anti-portrait in a way, isn't it? Rejecting tradition? Curator: Perhaps a better way to see it is as a redefinition of the purpose of the portrait. He strips away artifice to reveal something arguably more profound about the human condition. It challenges the viewer to engage with authenticity. It forces the public to redefine their ideas about art, celebrity, and the socio-political forces that push art to being simply decorative or flattering. Editor: So, it’s less about the individual and more about a wider comment? Curator: Precisely! Freud uses the individual to expose deeper social and aesthetic values. He makes us confront the difference between what society wants to see, versus reality. Editor: That makes me see the drawing with different eyes! It seems that every aspect is intended to challenge. Curator: Absolutely. And hopefully that reveals to all the ever changing purpose of art in a shifting socio-political climate.