The Egyptian Book

Lucian Freud

Freud was drawn to Egyptian sculpture made during the reign of Akhenaten (1353–1336 b.c.), who decreed that the visual arts should move toward naturalism and away from hieratic representation. This etching shows photographs from J. H. Breasted’s Geschichte Aegyptens (History of Egypt, 1936). The two sculpted heads were discovered in the workshop of Thutmose, the pharaoh’s chief sculptor, during an early twentieth-century excavation of Tell el-Amarna. Freud received a copy of the book in 1939 when he was sixteen and newly enrolled in art school. He featured his prized possession with its worn binding and creased pages, opened to the two sculptures in numerous works and staged in locations and poses normally occupied by models, such as flat on a bed or upright in an old leather chair.

A17 59 Freud The Egyptian Book frame CROP
3 images
Artist
Lucian Freud (1922-2011)
Title
The Egyptian Book
Medium
Etching, on T.H.S. Saunders wove paper
Date
1994
Sheet
18 1/4 x 16 3/4 in : 46.3 x 42.5 cm
Plate
11 3/4 x 11 3/4 in : 29.8 by 29.8 cm
Edition
From the edition of 40, signed and numbered by the artist
Printer
Marc Balakjian at Studio Prints, London
Publisher
Matthew Marks Gallery, New York
Exhibited
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," May 5, 1998–September 14, 1998 (another impression exhibited); The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," June 23, 2015–September 28, 2015 (another impression exhibited)
Literature
Hartley 49
Reference
A17-59
Status
Available for sale, please enquire for price

Enquire for price

Visit Artist Page

Available works by Lucian Freud

Head of a Man - Lucian Freud

Head of a Man - Lucian Freud
Eli - Lucian Freud

Eli - Lucian Freud
Bella in her Pluto T-shirt - Lucian Freud

Bella in her Pluto T-shirt - Lucian Freud
Head of Ali - Lucian Freud

Head of Ali - Lucian Freud
Two Men In The Studio - Lucian Freud

Two Men In The Studio - Lucian Freud
Before the Fourth - Lucian Freud

Before the Fourth - Lucian Freud
Reclining Figure - Lucian Freud

Reclining Figure - Lucian Freud
Head and Shoulders of a Girl - Lucian Freud

Head and Shoulders of a Girl - Lucian Freud
After Chardin (small plate) - Lucian Freud

After Chardin (small plate) - Lucian Freud
The Egyptian Book - Lucian Freud

The Egyptian Book - Lucian Freud

Available Artists