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Before The Fourth - Signed Print by Lucian Freud 2004 - MyArtBroker

Before The Fourth
Signed Print

Lucian Freud

£2,900-£4,350Value Indicator

$6,000-$9,000 Value Indicator

$5,500-$8,000 Value Indicator

¥28,000-¥40,000 Value Indicator

3,400-5,000 Value Indicator

$30,000-$45,000 Value Indicator

¥550,000-¥820,000 Value Indicator

$3,850-$6,000 Value Indicator

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36 x 48cm, Edition of 46, Etching

Medium: Etching
Edition size: 46
Year: 2004
Size: H 36cm x W 48cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
Last Auction: July 2024
Value Trend:
-12% AAGR

AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

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Auction Results

Auction Date
Auction House
Location
Return to Seller
Hammer Price
Buyer Paid
July 2024
Christie's New York
United States
$5,000
$6,000
$7,500
March 2024
Bonhams New Bond Street
United Kingdom
September 2023
Sotheby's London
United Kingdom
March 2020
Sotheby's London
United Kingdom
April 2018
Sotheby's New York
United States
June 2016
Christie's New York
United States
October 2015
Phillips London
United Kingdom
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Track auction value trend

The value of Lucian Freud’s Before The Fourth (signed) is estimated to be worth between £2,900 and £4,350. This etching print, created in 2004, has shown consistent value growth, with an auction history of 11 total sales since its initial sale in February 2012. In the past 12 months, the average selling price was £4,646, across a single sale. Over the past five years, the hammer price has varied from £4,000 in March 2024 to £4,646 in July 2024. The artwork demonstrates an average annual growth rate of -12%. This work is part of a limited edition of 46.

Created with Highcharts 11.4.8Oct 2015Mar 2017Sep 2018Feb 2020Aug 2021Jan 2023Jul 2024$3,000$4,000$5,000$6,000$7,000$8,000© MyArtBroker

Meaning & Analysis

Lucian Freud is famed not only for his painstakingly real approach to portraiture, but also for the sometimes gruelling sitting process he put his subjects through. Spending sometimes hundreds of hours - and even years - on singular portraits, the relationship Freud fostered with his sitters is intrinsic to our reading of his work. Before The Fourth is no exception to this. Even though the sitter - actress Annabel Mullion - was a friend of Freud's, he seems to have unlocked a new level of intimacy in this portrait of her nude, pregnant form. Capturing Mullion before the birth of her fourth child, Freud delineates her face with a tender softness. This rather adoring portrait is somewhat disrupted by Freud's treatment of her body. With his use of straight etched lines, he pronounces her swollen pregnant belly at the centre of the composition.

Through the contrasts in mark-making above and below her figure, Freud proves his ability to emulate tone and texture with his etching needle alone. Like so many of Freud's portraits, Before The Fourth likely took a lengthly time to execute, but is a poignant snapshot of his friend during her pregnancy.

  • Famed for his representations of the human form, Lucian Freud is one of the 20th Century's most celebrated artists. The grandson of psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, the artist confronts the psychological depth and bare complexities of the human body. From his early works to his celebrated nudes and portraits, Freud's canvases resonate with an almost tactile intensity, capturing the essence of his subjects with unwavering honesty. Freud painted only himself, close friends, and family, which floods his work with an intimacy that is felt by the viewer. His pursuit of honesty through portraiture shaped the trajectory of figurative art in the 20th century.

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