Portrait of Kitty: Difference between revisions

Portrait of Kitty
Portrait of Kitty
Artist	Lucian Freud
Year	1948-1949
Type	Painting
Medium	Oil on board
Subject	Kitty Garman
Dimensions	32 cm × 24 cm (13 in × 9.4 in)
Location	The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall
Accession	1973.096.GR
Website	Portrait of Kitty at The New Art Gallery Walsall

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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 35 by 24 centimetres (13.8 in × 9.4 in).

Freud (1922–2011) was married to Garman (1926–2011) between 1948 and 1952, and the couple had two daughters together, Annie (born 1948) and Annabel (born 1952).

Model Kitty Garman

"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.^[1]

Epstein would visit Kitty's mother every evening between 6 and 7 pm, at which time no one else was allowed in the house.^[2]

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.^[1]

Their five-year relationship was turbulent. In 1952 Kitty left Freud and went to live with her parents.^[3]

Portraits

Kitty has been the subject of many portraits, including Freud's famous Girl with a White Dog^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6] Kitty was known for her "wide-eyed feline features which captivated the artist",^[7] becoming his frequent model during the early years of their relationship.^[7] Most of Freud's sitters were not named,^[8] and in Freud's portraits of Garman she was often referred to as "Girl", with the exception being this portrait.^[9]

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.^[10] According to art historian Sheila McGregor,^[7] the inclusion of aesthetically imperfect background elements "reveals his intention to depict the world with all its imperfections, bereft of symbolism or flattery."^[10]

Freud's painting style began to change in the 1950s, when he moved towards the much freer painting technique he is best known for.^[2]

The New Art Gallery Walsall

Portrait of Kitty is in the Garman Ryan Collection at the New Art Gallery Walsall.^[6] This collection was gifted to Walsall in 1973 by Kitty's mother Kathleen Garman, and her friend Sally Ryan.^[6] Kathleen Garman had been brought up just outside the town and wanted to leave the works to Walsall to improve the cultural life of her native Black Country. Kathleen Garman purchased several works by her son-in-law which feature in the collection. Originally the collection was on display in a small gallery above the town's library. In the 1990s the idea of a new home for the collection was conceived, and in 2000 The New Art Gallery Walsall, a purpose-built gallery designed by the architects Caruso St John, opened to the public.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Kitty continued to draw and paint throughout her life and took an active interest in the gallery until her death in 2011.^[6] An exhibition of her work was held at the gallery in 2004.^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b Connolly, Cressida (2005). The Rare and the Beautiful. Harper Perennial. ISBN 1841156345.
^ ^a ^b Buckley, Oliver (2004). Lucian Freud and Kitty Garman. The New Art Gallery Walsall. ISBN 0946652732.
^ "Obituary: Professor Wynne Godley". The Daily Telegraph. London. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.
^ "Girl with a White Dog 1950-1".
^ "BP Portrait Award 2006". Retrieved 2 May 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Extraordinary People, Portraits in the Garman Ryan Collection. The New Art Gallery Walsall. 2009. p. 26. ISBN 978-0946652938.
^ ^a ^b ^c McGregor, Sheila (1999). A Shared Vision, The Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall. Merrell. p. 75. ISBN 1858941016.
^ Staff. "Lucian Freud". Marlborough Gallery. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
^ Buckley, Oliver (2001). Jill Berk Jiminez and Joanna Banham (ed.). Dictionary of Artists' Models. Dearborn, Michigan: Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 208. ISBN 1579582338.
^ ^a ^b Staff. "Kitty". Art UK. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
^ Jodidio, Philip (2006). "Chapter 3: Caruso St John". In Kobler, Florian (ed.). Architecture in the United Kingdom. Court, Christiane; Bosser, Jacques. Cologne: Taschen. pp. 44–47. ISBN 3-8228-3972-8.
^ "Design process – Case studies – CABE". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
^ "Space for Art Case Study: The New Art Gallery, Walsall". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.
^ Connolly, Cressida (19 January 2011). "Kitty Godley obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2013.

External links

Portrait of Kitty on the New Art Gallery Walsall website

[Connolly-1] Connolly, Cressida (2005). The Rare and the Beautiful. Harper Perennial. ISBN 1841156345.

[Buckley-2] Buckley, Oliver (2004). Lucian Freud and Kitty Garman. The New Art Gallery Walsall. ISBN 0946652732.

[3] "Obituary: Professor Wynne Godley". The Daily Telegraph. London. 21 May 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010.

[Girl_with_a_White_Dog_1950-1-4] "Girl with a White Dog 1950-1".

[BP-5] "BP Portrait Award 2006". Retrieved 2 May 2013.

[extraordinary-6] Extraordinary People, Portraits in the Garman Ryan Collection. The New Art Gallery Walsall. 2009. p. 26. ISBN 978-0946652938.

[Lucian_Freud_Portrait_of_Kitty-7] McGregor, Sheila (1999). A Shared Vision, The Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall. Merrell. p. 75. ISBN 1858941016.

[8] Staff. "Lucian Freud". Marlborough Gallery. Retrieved 30 June 2013.

[9] Buckley, Oliver (2001). Jill Berk Jiminez and Joanna Banham (ed.). Dictionary of Artists' Models. Dearborn, Michigan: Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 208. ISBN 1579582338.

[BBC-10] Staff. "Kitty". Art UK. Retrieved 4 July 2013.

[Jodidio-11] Jodidio, Philip (2006). "Chapter 3: Caruso St John". In Kobler, Florian (ed.). Architecture in the United Kingdom. Court, Christiane; Bosser, Jacques. Cologne: Taschen. pp. 44–47. ISBN 3-8228-3972-8.

[12] "Design process – Case studies – CABE". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2013.

[13] "Space for Art Case Study: The New Art Gallery, Walsall". Archived from the original on 27 December 2013.

[connolly-14] Connolly, Cressida (19 January 2011). "Kitty Godley obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 June 2013.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Painting by Lucian Freud}}
+{{EngvarB|date=June 2013}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
 {{Infobox artwork
 | title              = Portrait of Kitty
-| image_file         = <!-- In copyright til circa 2082 -->
+| image_file         = Lucian Freud - Portrait of Kitty.jpg
-| caption            =
+| image_size         = 250px
+| artist             = [[Lucian Freud]]
-| painting_alignment =
-| image_size         =
-| alt                =
-| artist             = [[Lucian Freud]]
 | catalogue          = <!-- reference in a catalogue raisonné -->
-| year               = {{start date|1948}}-49 <!--remove date template if before 1583 CE -->
+| year               = {{start date|1948}}-1949 <!--remove date template if before 1583 CE -->
 | type               = Painting
-| material           = Oil on board
+| material           = [[Oil painting|Oil]] on board
 | subject            = Kitty Garman
 | height_metric      = 32
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 | metric_unit        = cm
 | imperial_unit      = in
-| city               = [[Walsall]], [[England]]
 | museum             = [[The New Art Gallery Walsall]]
+| city               = [[Walsall]]
 | accession          = 1973.096.GR
 | owner              =
-| url                = {{URL|http://epstein.thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk/2011/06/portrait_of_kitty_by_lucian_freud/}}
+| url                = {{URL|http://epstein.thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk/2011/06/portrait_of_kitty_by_lucian_freud/|''Portrait of Kitty'' at The New Art Gallery Walsall}}
 }}
+'''''Portrait of Kitty''''' is a painting by [[Lucian Freud]] of [[Kathleen Godley|Kitty Garman]], his wife and the eldest daughter of the sculptor [[Jacob Epstein]] and [[Kathleen Garman]]. Completed between 1948 and 1949, this [[Oil painting|oil]] on board measures {{convert|35|x|24|cm}}.
-'''''Portrait of Kitty''''' 1948-9, oil on board, 35 x 24cm, is a painting by [[Lucian Freud]].
-Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was married to Kitty Garman (1926-2011) between 1948 and 1952, and the couple had two daughters together, Annie (born 1948) and Annabel (born 1952).
+Freud (1922–2011) was married to Garman (1926–2011) between 1948 and 1952, and the couple had two daughters together, Annie (born 1948) and Annabel (born 1952).
-==Kitty Garman==
+==Model Kitty Garman==
+[[Kathleen Godley|"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.<ref name=Connolly>{{cite book |title=The Rare and the Beautiful |first=Cressida|last=Connolly |publisher=Harper Perennial |year=2005 |isbn=1841156345}}</ref>
+Epstein would visit Kitty's mother every evening between 6 and 7&nbsp;pm, at which time no one else was allowed in the house.<ref name=Buckley>{{cite book|title=Lucian Freud and Kitty Garman|last=Buckley|first=Oliver|year=2004|publisher=The New Art Gallery Walsall|isbn=0946652732}}</ref>
-Kitty was the eldest daughter of the sculptor [[Jacob Epstein]] and his lover [[Kathleen Garman]].
-Epstein and Garman were together for over thirty years before they married in 1955, after the death of Epstein's first wife Margaret.
-Kitty was their only child to survive into old age.
-Her elder brother Theo (1924-1954) was a talented painter, who suffered from schizophrenia and died suddenly aged only 29, and her younger sister Esther (1929-1954) took her own life in the same year her brother passed away.
-Kitty was brought up by her grandmother in Herefordshire, with regular visits to her mother's house in Chelsea.
-Epstein's second family's arrangements were rather unconventional and bohemian.
-He would visit Kitty's mother every evening between 6 and 7pm, at which time no one else was allowed in the house. <ref name=Buckley>{{cite book|title=Lucian Freud and Kitty Garman|last=Buckley|first=Oliver|year=2004|publisher=The New Art Gallery Walsall|isbn=0946652732}}</ref>
-Kitty studied at The Central School of Arts and Crafts under the tuition of [[Bernard Meninsky]] and was taught book illustration by [[John Farleigh]].
+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]].<ref name=Connolly />
-Once she was introduced to Lucian Freud at the [[Café Royal]] her own artistic studies took a back seat.
-Previously Freud had been the lover of Kitty's aunt, Lorna Wishart, Kathleen's sister, who introduced him to her niece.
+Their five-year relationship was turbulent. In 1952 Kitty left Freud and went to live with her parents.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Professor Wynne Godley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/7750835/Professor-Wynne-Godley.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=21 May 2010 |access-date=2010-05-29 |location=London}}</ref>
-Their five year relationship was turbulent, and became increasingly unstable due to Freud's alleged infidelities and womanising, which took its toll on Kitty's health.
-In 1952 Kitty left Freud and went to live with her parents, Freud having started at an affair with [[Lady Caroline Blackwood]].
-In 1955 Kitty married the musician and economist [[Wynne Godley]], having another daughter, Eve, with him in 1967.
 ==Portraits==
+Kitty has been the subject of many portraits, including Freud's famous ''Girl with a White Dog''<ref name="Girl with a White Dog 1950-1">{{cite web|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/freud-girl-with-a-white-dog-n06039|title=Girl with a White Dog 1950-1}}</ref> 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]].<ref name=BP>{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2006/bp-portrait-award-2006.php|title=BP Portrait Award 2006|access-date=2 May 2013}}</ref>
+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.<ref name=extraordinary>{{cite book|title=Extraordinary People, Portraits in the Garman Ryan Collection|year=2009|publisher=The New Art Gallery Walsall|page=26|isbn=978-0946652938}}</ref> Kitty was known for her "wide-eyed feline features which captivated the artist",<ref name="Lucian Freud Portrait of Kitty" /> becoming his frequent model during the early years of their relationship.<ref name="Lucian Freud Portrait of Kitty">{{cite book|last=McGregor|first=Sheila|title=A Shared Vision, The Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall|year=1999|publisher=Merrell|isbn=1858941016|page=75}}</ref>
-Kitty has been the subject of many portraits, including Freud's famous ''Girl with a White Dog''<ref name="Girl with a White Dog 1950-1">{{cite web|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/freud-girl-with-a-white-dog-n06039|title=Girl with a White Dog 1950-1}}</ref> 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.<ref name=BP>{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2006/bp-portrait-award-2006.php|title=BP Portrait Award 2006|accessdate=2 May 2013}}</ref>
+Most of Freud's sitters were not named,<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Lucian Freud|url=http://www.marlboroughgallery.com/galleries/graphics/artists/lucian-freud/graphics|publisher=Marlborough Gallery|access-date=30 June 2013}}</ref> and in Freud's portraits of Garman she was often referred to as "Girl", with the exception being this portrait.<ref>{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Oliver|title=Dictionary of Artists' Models|year=2001|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|location=Dearborn, Michigan|isbn=1579582338|page=208|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_XUi40rTz4C&q=%22%20portrait%20of%20kitty%22%20freud&pg=PA208|authorlink=Kitty Garman|editor=Jill Berk Jiminez and Joanna Banham}}</ref>
+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.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web|last=Staff|title=Kitty|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/kitty-20400|work=[[Art UK]]|access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref> According to art historian Sheila McGregor,<ref name="Lucian Freud Portrait of Kitty"/> the inclusion of aesthetically imperfect background elements "reveals his intention to depict the world with all its imperfections, bereft of symbolism or flattery."<ref name="BBC" />
-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.<ref name=extraordinary>{{cite book|title=Extraordinary People, Portraits in the Garman Ryan Collection|year=2009|publisher=The New Art Gallery Walsall|page=26|isbn=0946652937}}</ref>  Kitty was known for her wide-eyed feline features which captivated the artist at the time, becoming his frequent model during the early years of their relationship. <ref name="Lucian Freud Portrait of Kitty">{{cite book|last=McGregor|first=Sheila|title=A Shared Vision, The Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall|year=1999|publisher=Merrell|isbn=1858941016|page=75}}</ref>
-Normally Freud does not give names to his sitters, and usually in portraits she was only referred to as girl, this one being an exception.
-The profile format emphasises Freud's objective approach to portraiture, in which the sitter is scrutinised by both artist and viewer in a cold light against a characteristically bare background. The detail of hair and surface is typical of the meticulous style of his early portraits, and the peeling paint of the shutters reveals his intention to depict the world with all its imperfections, bereft of symbolism or flattery. <ref name="Lucian Freud Portrait of Kitty">{{cite book|last=McGregor|first=Sheila|title=A Shared Vision, The Garman Ryan Collection at The New Art Gallery Walsall|year=1999|publisher=Merrell|isbn=1858941016|page=75}}</ref>
 Freud's painting style began to change in the 1950s, when he moved towards the much freer painting technique he is best known for.<ref name=Buckley />
 ==The New Art Gallery Walsall==
+''Portrait of Kitty'' is in the [[Garman Ryan Collection]] at [[the New Art Gallery Walsall]].<ref name=extraordinary /> This collection was gifted to Walsall in 1973 by Kitty's mother Kathleen Garman, and her friend [[Sally Ryan]].<ref name=extraordinary /> Kathleen Garman had been brought up just outside the town and wanted to leave the works to Walsall to improve the cultural life of her native Black Country. Kathleen Garman purchased several works by her son-in-law which feature in the collection. Originally the collection was on display in a small gallery above the town's library. In the 1990s the idea of a new home for the collection was conceived, and in 2000 The New Art Gallery Walsall, a purpose-built gallery designed by the architects [[Caruso St John]], opened to the public.<ref name="Jodidio">{{cite book|last=Jodidio |first=Philip |others=Court, Christiane; Bosser, Jacques |title=Architecture in the United Kingdom |editor=Kobler, Florian |publisher=Taschen |location=Cologne |year=2006 |pages=44–47 |chapter=Chapter 3: Caruso St John |isbn=3-8228-3972-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/new-art-gallery/design |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http:/www.cabe.org.uk/case-studies/new-art-gallery/design |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-01-18 |title=Design process – Case studies – CABE |publisher=Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk |access-date=2013-06-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.cloreduffield.org.uk/research/spaceforart/spaceforartfiles/Walsall.doc|title= Space for Art Case Study: The New Art Gallery, Walsall|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131227103752/http://www.cloreduffield.org.uk/research/spaceforart/spaceforartfiles/Walsall.doc|archive-date= 27 December 2013}}</ref>
+Kitty continued to draw and paint throughout her life and took an active interest in the gallery until her death in 2011.<ref name=extraordinary /> An exhibition of her work was held at the gallery in 2004.<ref name=connolly>{{cite news|last=Connolly|first=Cressida|title=Kitty Godley obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/19/kitty-godley-obituary|access-date=30 June 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 January 2011}}</ref>
-''Portrait of Kitty'' is in the [[Garman Ryan Collection]] at [[the New Art Gallery Walsall]].  This collection was gifted to Walsall in 1973 by Kitty's mother Kathleen Garman, and her friend Sally Ryan.  Kathleen Garman had been brought up just outside the town and wanted to leave the works to Walsall to improve the cultural life of her native Black Country.  Kathleen Garman purchased several works by her son in law which feature in the collection.  Originally the collection was on display in a small gallery above the town's library.  In the 1990s the idea of a new home for the collection was conceived, and in 2000 The New Art Gallery Walsall, a purpose built gallery designed by the architects [[Caruso St John]], opened to the public.
-Kitty continued to draw and paint throughout her life and took an active interest in the gallery until she passed away in 2011.<ref name=extraordinary /> An exhibition of her work was held at the gallery in 2004.
 ==References==
@@ Line 67: / Line 56: @@
 ==External links==
-* [http://epstein.thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk/2011/06/portrait_of_kitty_by_lucian_freud/ ''Portrait of Kitty'' on the New Art Gallery Walsall website ]
+* [http://thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk/item/portrait-of-kitty-2/ ''Portrait of Kitty'' on the New Art Gallery Walsall website ]
+{{Lucian Freud}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Portrait of Kitty}}
+[[Category:1940s paintings]]
+[[Category:Paintings by Lucian Freud]]
+[[Category:Portraits by British artists|Kitty]]
+[[Category:Garman Ryan Collection]]
+[[Category:Portraits of women]]
+[[Category:Oil on panel paintings]]
+[[Category:Paintings in England]]

v t e Lucian Freud
Paintings	Portrait of Kitty (1948–49) Head on a Green Sofa (1960–61) Naked Child Laughing (1963) Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (1995) After Cézanne (2000) The Brigadier (2004)
Family	Kitty Garman (1st wife) Lady Caroline Blackwood (2nd wife) Annie Freud (daughter) Jane McAdam Freud (daughter) Paul Freud (son) Bella Freud (daughter) Esther Freud (daughter) Susie Boyt (daughter) Ernst L. Freud (father) Clement Freud (brother) Sigmund Freud (grandfather) Martha Bernays (grandmother)
Related	Leigh Bowery (model) Sue Tilley (model) Portrait of George Dyer and Lucian Freud (1967 painting) Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969 painting)