Head of Ali
Head of Ali
Signed Print
Lucian Freud
Price data unavailable
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Medium: Etching
Edition size: 46
Year: 1999
Size: H 58cm x W 42cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2023 | Christie's New York | United States | |||
| October 2015 | Phillips London | United Kingdom | |||
| February 2012 | Christie's London | United Kingdom | |||
| January 2007 | Lyon & Turnbull Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
Meaning & Analysis
Lucian Freud created this portrait of his son, Alexander ("Ali") Boyt, in 1999 when the sitter was 42-years-old. Ali's head takes focal position at the centre of the etching, with his face heavily modelled with layers of hatching. The lines that delineate his clothing, and the scratches transferred from the etching plate, give the overall portrait a graphic quality.
Alexander ("Ali") Boyt is Lucian Freud's eldest son, and one of the artist's children who returned to sit for his father throughout his career. Ali is one of four children Freud had with fellow-artist Suzy Boyt, and is the half-brother of Suzy's son Kai, who Freud considered his "stepson". As the portraits in our Family collection of Freud's work reveal, he clearly had a particular connection with Suzy and the children he had with her.
Freud depicted Ali throughout the different phases of his life, and Head Of Ali pictures his son as a mature man. True to his unflinchingly honest approach to portraiture, Freud has exaggerated every wrinkle and fold of flesh on his son's face. Looking outside the frame of the etching to the right, Ali is depicted with a serious and contemplative gaze, making the familial resemblance between father and son all the more evident.
