Girl with a Kitten, 1947 by Lucian Freud
Explore Mondoir Collection
Medium: Archival pigment print on 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper
Dimensions: 48.90 x 39.50 cm
Edition production year: 2025
Price on request
Status: available
An early masterpiece by Lucian Freud becomes an evocative limited edition print. Girl with a Kitten, 1947 is a prime example of the seminal British painter’s psychologically-charged, wide-eyed portraits from the 1940s. It is one of eight paintings he created of his first wife, fellow artist Kathleen 'Kitty' Garman. The work encapsulates the artist’s revered observational skills – always working directly from life, he captures each fine detail with profound, unflinching intimacy. Our expert printmakers at Make-Ready collaborated closely with Lucian Freud Estate and Bridgeman Images to reproduce Girl with a Kitten, 1947, using high-resolution photography and 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper, specifically chosen by the Estate for its unique textured surface and premium print quality. Girl with a Kitten, 1947 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?
This 2025 edition preserves a telling mismatch in the 1947 portrait: the woman looks beyond the frame while the kitten faces outward, making physical closeness appear guarded rather than reassuring.
- The catalogue identifies the sitter as Kathleen “Kitty” Garman, Freud’s first wife, and reports that he painted her eight times. That sustained attention informs, but does not explain, her distant expression.
- In the photograph, enlarged eyes and a sharply bounded face contrast with the kitten’s compact, patterned body. The closed hand at the composition’s centre makes holding appear both protective and restrictive.
- Catalogue metadata records an archival pigment print on 310gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper, produced from high-resolution photography. Fine hairs, pupils and garment contours remain legible, although the sheet’s actual colour and texture cannot be assessed from this image.
- As a contemporary print after an earlier painting, this edition permits a focused encounter with how photographic translation, paper and ink recast the concentrated strangeness of Freud’s portrait in another medium and date.
About the Artist
Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud is an artist featured in the Mondoir Collection.
Nationality: British
