Portrait of Kitty


Portrait of Kitty is a painting by Lucian Freud of Kitty Garman, his wife and the eldest daughter of the sculptor Jacob Epstein and Kathleen Garman. Completed between 1948 and 1949, this oil on board measures.
Freud was married to Garman between 1948 and 1952, and the couple had two daughters together, Annie and Annabel.

Model Kitty Garman

was the eldest daughter of the sculptor Jacob Epstein and his lover Kathleen Garman.
Epstein and Katherine Garman were together for over thirty years before they married in 1955, after the death of Epstein's first wife Margaret.
Epstein would visit Kitty's mother every evening between 6 and 7 pm, at which time no one else was allowed in the house.
Kitty studied at the Central [School of Arts and Crafts] under the tuition of Bernard Meninsky, but after she was introduced to Lucian Freud her own studies took a back seat. Freud had previously been the lover of Kitty's aunt, Lorna Wishart.
Their five-year relationship was turbulent. In 1952 Kitty left Freud and went to live with her parents.

Portraits

Kitty has been the subject of many portraits, including Freud's famous Girl with a White Dog as well as drawings and sculptures by her father. More recently she was depicted in a BP Portrait Award winning triptych by the artist Andrew Tift.
Freud was known for his intense scrutiny of his subjects, revealing the intimate relationship between artist and sitter. Portrait of Kitty was one of several of his early works in which she acted as a model, and these are now generally regarded as some of his masterpieces. Kitty was known for her "wide-eyed feline features which captivated the artist", becoming his frequent model during the early years of their relationship.
Most of Freud's sitters were not named, and in Freud's portraits of Garman she was often referred to as "Girl", with the exception being this portrait.
Utilising a prominent profile arrangement for the portrait, Freud depicts Garman in cool tones against a bare background of green shutters with areas of peeling paint. Typical of his early portraiture style, Freud paints Garman's hair and the subtle changes in the background with great attention to detail. According to art historian Sheila McGregor, the inclusion of aesthetically imperfect background elements "reveals his intention to depict the world with all its imperfections, bereft of symbolism or flattery."
Freud's painting style began to change in the 1950s, when he moved towards the much freer painting technique he is best known for.