The Liverpool Nude

  The Art of Lucian Freud, a personal view by Paul Gatenby I’ll start with an opinion expressed as if it were a fact: ‘All great art is humane’ No doubt we could find exceptions, but I believe that on the whole, this is true.   The Sistine Chapel, for example, may depict a super-human world but if we look at the exchange of glances between the newly created Adam and the yet to be created Eve still under God’s protective arm, we see the beginnings of an all too human relationship.   Or the self-portraits of Rembrandt; the late paintings are often described as portraits of the artist facing death; I prefer to think of them as the artist facing life.   He looks himself in the eye, and looks into his soul; and ours too.   Van Gogh’s potato eaters may not have much but at least they’re sharing it.   There are admirable qualities in Freud’s work, not least the sheer determination to stick with figuration for so long, especially during times when many woul...