Strawberries 1952

Lucian Freud made this small, intimate drawing titled ‘Strawberries’ with crayon on paper. Though he is best known for his portraits of people, here he turns his intense gaze to a humble box of strawberries. Freud, grandson of Sigmund, brings a psychoanalytic intensity to his work. Born in Berlin, he moved to Britain with his family to escape the rise of Nazism. Despite being part of a family uprooted by political events, Freud's focus remained on the personal and the intimate. He once said, "I paint people not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be." In ‘Strawberries’ we see the fruit not as idealized still-life elements, but as individual characters, each with its own unique imperfections and qualities. The strawberries crowd together, each different, each at a different stage of ripeness, as if each had its own story. Freud elevates these everyday objects to a level of profound significance. The effect is both deeply personal and quietly reflective of the broader human condition.