Pluto

late 1970s – 1980s

Relationship with the painter Celia Paul

During the late 1970s and the 1980s Freud was in a relationship with the painter Celia Paul.

c. 1986 – 2011

Etchings at Studio Prints

In the last 25 years of his life Freud made etchings with advice from the Armenian-born artist and printer Marc Balakjian at Studio Prints in Kentish Town, London; 143 of these prints are in the V&A's collection.

1987

Exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum

The Hirshhorn Museum held a Freud exhibition; its catalogue included Robert Hughes's essay “On Lucian Freud”, published the same year in The New York Review of Books.

1988

Hayward Gallery retrospective and a BBC film

A major retrospective at London's Hayward Gallery was the focus of the BBC Omnibus programme in which director Jake Auerbach recorded one of the few conversations ever filmed with Freud, made possible by Duncan MacGuigan of Acquavella Galleries, New York.

1989

Shortlisted for the Turner Prize

One of the best-known British artists working in a representational style, Freud was shortlisted for the Turner Prize.

1989

Death of his mother

The artist's mother, Lucie Freud, née Brasch (1896–1989), died; Freud depicted her both after her suicide attempt and after her death.