Naked woman on a sofa 1985

Lucian Freud’s painting, "Naked woman on a sofa" is an intimate oil on canvas. The colors are like flesh itself, aren't they? Raw, pinkish, and vulnerable. I love the way Freud uses paint; it's not just color, it's a substance, almost like another skin laid over the canvas. You can see every stroke, every decision. It's honest, like a map of the process itself. Take a look at the way he’s rendered the folds of skin around the woman's stomach. It's not pretty, but it’s real. And in that reality, there’s a kind of brutal beauty. Each mark is a testament to the act of seeing, of wrestling with form and light. You could see a lineage from Rembrandt through to Jenny Saville in the way Freud just lays it all bare. These painters remind us that art is about more than just what we see; it’s about how we see, and what we choose to reveal.