Essay: Femininities and masculinities in the work of Lucien Freud

Introduction

Gill Perry defines gender as “the cultural construction of femininity and masculinity, as opposed to the biological sex (male or female) we are born with” (1999:8). A dominant part of this “construction” originates from the history of portraiture, where women represented as beautiful, stereotypically feminine figures has been a recurring theme (West, 2014, p.58), thus creating a visual “ideal” of what a woman should be and how she should behave. The art world, as in society, has long been male-dominated, even in the field of female portraits, and so these ideals have been dictated predominantly by men; as Charlotte Mullins states: “Paintings represent an appreciation of one half of the human race by the other half” (1985:1). As a result of this, women have mainly been depicted as either sexual objects or maternal figures and therefore people have been conditioned to associate slender bodies with large breasts and wide hips as symbols of beauty and desire. In the last century, however, artists have begun to challenge these ideals and redefine what it means to be masculine or feminine. In doing this, the whole purpose of portraiture has evolved. Portraits traditionally existed simply to show a likeness to the model or to be aesthetically pleasing, as in Michelangelo’s “famous protest that he would not paint portraits because there were not enough ideally beautiful models” (West, 2014:12); however now, artists use them to observe, explore and represent the human body in new and intriguing ways and to challenge expectations and stereotypes.

Standing by the Rags

Lucian Freud was a British artist, most well-known for his unique style of figurative portrait painting. His transcendent works explore the human form as an object and the relationship between him and his models. Standing by the Rags (Fig. 1) is one of Freud’s largest paintings of the naked figure, and depicts a woman resting, seemingly asleep, against a mountain of creased white fabric.

Fig. 1

The “rags” behind her are discoloured and the mottled texture of her skin give the impression of dirt, a direct contradiction of the female stereotype of cleanliness and pride in one’s own appearance. The pieces of fabric do suggest femininity, however, as the shadows they cast form gentle curves, imitating the shape of the female body. The level of detail and texture in the rags is equivalent to that of the subject herself (Treves, 2000), making her blend into the background as an insignificant object. There is also a significant lack of attention drawn to the face, which is only half on show and painted in darker tones. When looking at other examples of Freud’s work, for example Blonde Girl, Night Portrait (Fig. 2), it seems this is a motif of his as once again, the subject’s face blends into the background due to the duller, brown palette. This could be suggestive of how women are desired and used for their bodies rather than their faces in modern sex culture. Further evidence of his objectification of the female body is proposed by Richard Dorment, who describes how Freud “scrutinises his model with the detachment of a mortician” (2002).

Lucian Freud, Standing by the Rags (1988-89), oil on canvas, 168.9 x 138.4 cm.

Fig. 2

This can be seen in the way that the subjects’ eyes are often closed and are painted in awkward, unnatural positions that give them the impression of lifelessness, therefore denoting that Freud does not observe them as people, but as inanimate objects, his portraits becoming more like still-lifes. The composition of Fig. 1 is also intriguing, with the woman positioned slightly off-centre, the empty space to her right, her outstretched arm and turned head all making it seem as though something, or someone is missing from the portrait. It could be interpreted as an image of a woman waiting for a man to come to her, or else a representation of how women are incomplete without a male presence in a patriarchal society; as Berger states; “To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men” (2008:46).

Lucian Freud, Blonde Girl, Night Portrait (1980-85), oil on canvas, 71 x 71 cm.

Distortion of the traditional nude

The concept of the nude is defined by John Berger as “to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself” (2008:54) again, linking back to the idea that women’s bodies are commonly objectified in art and in society, and has been a prevalent feature in the history of female portraiture, from Botticelli’s iconic The Birth of Venus (Fig. 3) in the 15th century, to Jenny Saville’s contemporary cinematic oil paintings. What has changed, however, is the way in which artists choose to represent the form.

Fig. 3

Traditionally, the classical nude would accentuate the soft, curving beauty of the female form, for example in Fig. 2, where Botticelli uses the same pale ivory tones for the flawless skin of Venus as he does for the shell from which she emerges, which, along with the flowers and plants in the background, associates femininity with nature. The motif of long, flowing hair was also common in classical nudes, and continues to serve as a desirable quality for women today. In contrast to this, Freud abandons these boundaries; the figures in his works distorted and grotesque. “His nudes are not nudes in the tradition of, say, Titan or Rubens…but are brutally honest depictions of naked bodies” (Mullins, 2008:19).

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (1484-86), tempera on canvas, 172.5 x 278.9 cm.

In Standing by the Rags, there is no luxurious, flowing hair or drapery billowing around the naked woman, but an intimidating pile of filthy rags. The body itself is not very aesthetically pleasing, with Freud’s use of a darker palette for the legs and arms making the flesh appear raw and meat-like, and rough brushstrokes with a heavily loaded hog’s hair brush accentuating rather than flattering the skin’s imperfections. Furthermore, he has not made any attempt to flatter the woman’s shape into graceful curves. On the contrary, the strange angel and use of perspective in the composition draws attention to her large thighs, and the darker tones across her stomach emphasise bulges of flesh and her sagging breasts. As Mullins states; his portraits are “rarely flattering”, however he is admired for his “ability to get to the essence of a figure, to recreate its tones and awkward protrusions” (2008:36). The subject could, on the other hand, be seen as representative of the ideal female. Despite being the only figure in the composition, she is passive; lying vulnerable and helpless as though surrendering herself to a male presence unseen by the viewer. She is also surrounded by white, connoting purity and virginity. One could even go so far as to say the woman is symbolic of an angel; the arrangement of the rags behind her left arm seem to form the shape of a wing, and the warm gold of her hair amongst the cold background tones could be suggestive of a halo.

Fig. 4

Unlike many famous female nudes, for example Éduoard Manet’s Olympia (Fig. 4), there is no evidence of promiscuity or the sin of vanity, despite the woman’s naked body exposed. While Manet’s portait uses the motif of the “female gaze” to stare seductively at the viewer, Freud hides his subject’s face, as though she is ashamed by her own nakedness, again opening up an interpretation of Standing by the Rags acting as a representation of the woman as the innocent figure rather than the common whore.

Éduoard Manet, Olympia (1863), oil on canvas, 130 x cm.

Gender boundaries

“The differences between ‘being a woman’ and ‘being a man’ are made visible in the clothes we wear, the language we speak, in the work we do and in the pleasures we take” (Betterton, 1987:7). In Freud’s paintings, however, the viewer is given none of this information, and so must distinguish the gender of the subject by just the physical attributes of the figure. In Fig. 1, and in many of his female nudes, the woman’s hair is cut short like that of a boy’s, and Freud plays with perspective, painting her hands and feet to appear unnaturally large rather than the soft, delicate features expected of a girl. The face also shows no sign of femininity, with the features dull and distorted and the skin flushed and mottled as opposed to the traditional image of beauty: clear, pale skin, long, dark eyelashes, red lips and defined cheekbones. These qualities all suggest a masculine, almost androgynous element to the figure. The concept of androgyny is defined as the combination of feminine and masculine characteristics, and Freud uses this idea of sexual ambiguity to encourage the viewer to question the gender of the subject. This being said, however, the figure is undoubtedly a woman; with her torso, in particular her breasts, highlighted by paler tones, and her face and genitalia “rendered in a particularly thick impasto” (Treves, 2000). This gives these areas an almost three dimensional quality, drawing the viewer’s eye there in a perhaps intentional suggestion that these are the most important features – and uses – of a woman; her face for aesthetic appeal and genitals for the act of sex.

Fig. 5

Two Men in the Studio

It is very interesting that Standing by the Rags is also featured in the background of another of Freud’s paintings of the nude, Two Men in the Studio (Fig. 5), this time the main subject being a naked male form.

The figure in Standing by the Rags here adopts the role of a decorative object, as women have been treated as through history, and the contrast between Freud’s representation of masculinity and femininity is more obvious as the viewer can see both side by side. Despite not being the stereotypical ideal of masculinity, the man in Fig. 4 seems strong and powerful from the definition of his muscle and the resilient stance with his arms raised, exposing and emphasising his body and genitals. The model in Fig. 1, in comparison, is merely a weak, passive, lifeless form amongst the rags. In addition to this, where the female subject hides her face in suggested shame, despair or weariness, Freud ensures that the man stares straight ahead, making direct eye contact with the viewer and therefore giving him control of the painting. He also seems to have more purpose, as though he is about to do something as opposed to simply standing there, echoing the simple statement of John Berger: “men act and women appear” (2008:47).

Lucian Freud, Two Men in the Studio (1987-89), oil on canvas, 185.4 x 120.7 cm.

Conclusion

“The term femininity implies a social process in which the female sex is attributed with specific qualities and characteristics” (Betterton, 1987:7). What Lucian Freud does in his nudes is strip back these declared “qualities and characteristics” and paints simply the flesh, from which feminine and masculine traits must be suggested, as in Fig. 1. The sheer size of the painting, coupled with the fact that it depicts a brutally honest representation of the female form; a body which people in a modern society have been socially influenced to find unappealing, even repulsive means it has a great impact on the viewer. Freud challenges conventional standards of beauty and femininity in Standing by the Rags and forces the public to become more comfortable with the imperfect human form.

List of illustrations

Freud, L. (1988-89) Standing by the Rags [oil on canvas]. Tate [online]. (Accessed 28 March 2015) Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/freud-standing-by-the-rags-t05722

Freud, L. (1980-85) Blonde Girl, Night Portrait [oil on canvas]. Saatchi Gallery [online]. (Accessed 8 April 2015) Available from: http://www.saatchigallery.com/aipe/lucian_freud.htm

Botticelli, S. (1484-86) The Birth of Venus [tempera on canvas]. Wikipedia [online]. (Accessed 11 April 2015) Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Birth_of_Venus_Botticelli.jpg

Manet, É. (1863) Olympia [oil on canvas]. Wikipedia [online]. (Accessed 17 April 2015) Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edouard_Manet_-_Olympia_-_Google_Art_Project_3.jpg

Freud, L. (1987-89) Two Men in the Studio [oil on canvas]. Saatchi Gallery [online]. (Accessed 15 April 2015) Available from: http://www.saatchigallery.com/aipe/lucian_freud.htm

Bibliography

Books

Berger, J. (2008) Ways of seeing. London: Penguin Classics.

Betterton, R. (1987) Looking on: images of femininity in the visual arts and media. London: Pandora Press.

Mullins, C. (2008) Painting people: the state of the art. London: Thames & Hudson.

Mullins, E. (!985) The painted witch: how western artists have viewed the sexuality of women. London: Secker & Warburg.

Naime, S., and Mather, P. (2011) 500 portraits: BP portrait award. London: National Portrait Gallery Publications.

Perry, G. ed. (1999) Gender and art. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Psomiades, K. A. (1997) Beauty’s body: femininity and representation in British aestheticism. California: Stamford University Press.

West, S. (2014) Portraiture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Journal Articles

Boyce, N. (2012) Lucian Freud: in the flesh. The Lancet [online] 379(9817), (Accessed 4 April 2015) 701. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673612602955

Newspaper/ Magazine Articles

Dorment, R. (2002) Lucian and his women. The Telegraph [online]. 1 June (Accessed 3 April 2015) Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3578401/Lucian-and-his-women.html

Websites

Treves, T. (2000) Standing by the rags 1988-9. Summary. [online]. Tate. (Accessed 9 April 2015) Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/freud-standing-by-the-rags-t05722/text-summary

Anon. (2014) The Work of Lucian Freud – Paint As Flesh. [online]. Windor & Newton. (Accessed 11 April 2015) Available from: http://www.winsornewton.com/na/discover/articles-and-inspiration/work-of-lucian-freud-paint-as-flesh-us

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