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Lot Essay
Boy in Red and Blue Jacket is a drawing of a thirteen year old boy named Charlie whom Freud worked from repeatedly during the 1940s. Charlie and his family were neighbours in Delamere Terrace on the canal in Paddington where Freud was living. He first met Charlie when he broke into Freud's flat from the first floor balcony which ran along the Terrace. Both he and his brother Billy feature in several works of the time - Charlie in Boy Smoking of 1950 and Billy in Boy's Head 1952 and in Interior in Paddington 1951.
In this work Charlie appears in a military jacket which the artist had bought at the local rag and bone stall under the canal bridge. His shifty eyes and youthful features are delineated with astonishing ease by the sinuous and assured line of Freud's early style. Seated in an armchair with greased black hair and ill fitting uniform, highlighted in places with coloured pastel and chalk the drawing brings to life this young wayward neighbour from the 1940s.
In this work Charlie appears in a military jacket which the artist had bought at the local rag and bone stall under the canal bridge. His shifty eyes and youthful features are delineated with astonishing ease by the sinuous and assured line of Freud's early style. Seated in an armchair with greased black hair and ill fitting uniform, highlighted in places with coloured pastel and chalk the drawing brings to life this young wayward neighbour from the 1940s.