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Large Head

1993

British, 1922 - 2011

The artist is a grandson of Sigmund Freud. His well-to-do Jewish parents left Berlin as the Nazis rose to power. Freud grew up in England, first an alienated, solitary youth, then a willfully eccentric artist who consorted with upper-crust socialites and seedy bohemians. The subject of this print is the late Leigh Bowery, a cross-dressing performance artist whose outlandish, highly original costumes and masks created a sensation in London's nightclubs in the 1980s. This saturnine portrait shows only one clue to Bowery's theatrical alter ego: the cheek piercings that were often used in his masquerades. (For a taste of Bowery's performance style, rent the video "Wigstock.")

Etching

Sheet h.: 32 1/2 in.

Sheet w.: 26 1/2 in.

Frame h.: 40 3/4 in.

Frame w.: 34 3/4 in.

Frame d.: 3 in.

Gift of Robert and Connie Nowinski

95.31

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Lucian Freud: Paintings and Prints In Seattle Area Art Collections", November 18, 1994 - February 7, 1995. (11/18/1994 - 02/07/1995)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Collection Highlights: 1945 to the Present", September 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997. (09/12/1996 - 06/01/1997)

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