Cyclamen 1964

Lucian Freud made this oil on canvas painting of a cyclamen with muted shades of pink, brown, and green. I can almost feel Freud’s intense focus as he painted this little plant. I imagine him, close up, really studying each petal and leaf. See how the thick paint gives the leaves a sort of sculptural weight, while the pale pink flowers have these delicate, almost translucent edges? You know, Freud was obsessed with painting flesh, and I wonder if he saw a parallel between the fleshy quality of the cyclamen and the human body. There’s this tension in the painting between meticulous observation and the unpredictable nature of paint itself. It’s as if he’s trying to capture the essence of the plant, not just its appearance. To me, the result is something that feels both incredibly present and strangely timeless. And it makes me want to go and really *look* at a flower.