Double Portrait, 1985-86 by Lucian Freud
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Medium: Archival pigment print on 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper
Dimensions: 46.40 x 50 cm
Edition production year: 2025
Price on request
Status: available
Double Portrait, 1985-86 is a new limited edition print based on the original oil painting of the same name. It is a quintessential piece from the artist’s later career, depicting a woman and a whippet nestled together at rest. The human-animal bond was a lifelong fascination for the influential painter, who once attributed his love of dogs to their “lack of arrogance” and “animal pragmatism”. Our expert printmakers at Make-Ready closely collaborated with Lucian Freud Estate and Bridgeman Images to reproduce Double Portrait, 1985-86, using high-resolution photography and 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper, specifically chosen by the Estate for its unique textured surface and premium quality. Double Portrait, 1985-86 is one of four limited edition prints by Lucian Freud Estate celebrating the evolution of the British painter's evocative style from 1947 to 1986.
Why collect this work?
In this 2025 edition, portraiture is organized through bodily contact: the woman and whippet read as interdependent subjects rather than figure and accessory.
- The catalogue identifies human-animal bonds as a sustained concern for Lucian Freud. Here, that concern clarifies the equal compositional weight given to the resting dog and woman.
- In the photograph, the woman’s lowered arm meets the dog’s muzzle and forelegs, while overlapping limbs form a compact diagonal. Her partially covered face shifts attention from likeness toward touch and shared repose.
- Catalogue metadata describes an archival pigment print on 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper, made after the 1985–86 oil painting. The edition translates the painted composition into a reproducible ink-on-paper object rather than recreating the original painting’s material surface.
- This print is particularly useful for considering how reproduction preserves a composition while changing its medium, date, and status. Its paired subjects also complicate the conventional hierarchy between human portrait and animal depiction.
About the Artist
Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud is an artist featured in the Mondoir Collection.
Nationality: British
