Breakfast with Lucian

This intimate portrait of Lucian Freud by Geordie Greig, is a real must for any art lover. It answers every question that you may have wanted to know about the artist, and shines a light on the incredibly complex life which he led. Geordie Greig, now editor of the Mail on Sunday, first fell in love with Freud’s work when he was 17, and even sent a letter to the painter requesting an interview for his school magazine. He received no reply but so began “a mission to know about him and his paintings which was to last 30 years”. Eventually, after about 20 years of unread letters and rejected commissions, Greig eventually moved in to the basement flat of the building where Freud had his studio, and the book began to take shape.

Breakfast with Lucian evolves around conversations the pair had at Sally Clarke’s restaurant in Kensington Church Street, where Freud breakfasted most mornings in the last decades of his life. In addition, Greig has done an impressive amount of in depth research – tracking down confidantes and subjects of Freud’s work, including Raymond Jones, who posed for the portrait holding a rat, the painter’s first full-length nude.

A father of 14 children Freud’s fidelity was firmly with his art whilst the complicated procession of debutantes and heiresses wove in and out of his life. His chaotic, creative life would have been a great basis for comment on his grandfather Sigmund’s legacy, but interestingly this is not really touched upon.

At the end of the book, he still remains a brilliant enigma, but there are many fascinating revelations along the way.

Breakfast with Lucian is published by Joanthan Cape.

Buy a copy of Breakfast with Lucian book here.