Man's head – Portrait I

The mid- to late-1950s marked a decisive shift in Freud’s paintings, when he moved away from stark, flattened portraits and turned to fleshy explorations of the human face. This was partly due to his friendship with the artist Francis Bacon, whom he met in the late 1940s and whose thick, loose style of painting motivated Freud to change direction. He also started to paint while standing up, freeing his arms to make thicker and more expressive marks, as evident in this canvas. Man’s head – Portrait I is one of a number of closely cropped portraits made during this transitional period. The artist carefully observed his models, usually family and friends, in order to capture an aspect of their inner character. Here, Freud sensitively portrays the full lips, chiseled face, unruly hair and pensive expression of the sitter.