Michael Andrews and June 1966

Lucian Freud captured Michael Andrews and June in oil on canvas in this intimate portrait. I can imagine Freud, peering intently, building up the forms with these nervous, fleshy brushstrokes, pushing and pulling the paint to find the structure underneath. There’s something almost sculptural about how Freud models the faces. See how the thick paint captures the light, creating sharp, angular planes? The color feels heightened, a little unreal, emphasizing the subjects' emotional intensity and internal state. Look at June's hand resting on her head. That gesture, that tilt of the head, speaks volumes about her mood. It feels intimate, vulnerable. You can sense Freud’s deep engagement with his subjects, how he coaxes the paint to reveal not just their likeness but also their inner selves. Freud was always in dialogue with the great portraitists of the past, like Rembrandt and Velázquez, but he brought his own raw, unflinching vision to the genre. That’s what makes his work so compelling, this sense of a restless, searching intelligence at work.