Bruce Bernard | David Dawson: Freud at Work
Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert presented a box set of important selection of photographs of Lucian Freud in his studio. Freud was not only the most celebrated artist working in England at the time but also one of the most private and he frequently stated his reluctance to be photographed, allowing only two photographers access to his studio, Bruce Bernard and David Dawson.
The late Bruce Bernard (1928-2000) was a friend for many years and the subject of two of Freud's paintings. Bernard is probably best known as a great picture editor and a very fine photographer. A fellow habitué of London's bohemian Soho in the 1950s, Bernard made a number of studies of Freud at work particularly during the years when he was working with Leigh Bowery as his model.
David Dawson (b.1960) is a painter and met Freud when he was working part-time for his then dealer, James Kirkman, in the late 1980s. He was Freud's assistant for over twenty years and photographed the artist exclusively towards the end of his life. Dawson has also modelled for Freud, including the painting Sunny Morning - Eight Legs. He studied at Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art.
This exhibition offered a fascinating insight into a contemporary master at work. Focusing on Freud's studio, the photographs revealed various stages of work in progress, portrait sittings, studio visits and the overall intensity of activity in this very secret domain.
The exhibition coincided with a new publication of Freud at Work by Jonathon Cape, which includes a series of conversations between Lucian Freud and Sebastian Smee.
