Lucian Freud, a colossus of the art world for more than half a century, has died peacefully at his home aged 88.
In a statement his New York-based art dealer and close friend William Acquavella said the realist painter died on Wednesday following a brief illness, but gave no further details.
Freud was known for his intense realist portraits, particularly of nudes.
In recent years his paintings commanded huge prices at auction, including one called Naked Woman on a Sofa that sold for US$33,6 million in 2008. Last month, a portrait entitled Woman Smiling, 1958-59, sold for about US$7 729 302.
Acquavella said he would mourn Freud “as one of the great painters of the twentieth century.”
“My family and I mourn Lucian Freud not only as one of the great painters of the twentieth century but also as a very dear friend,” he said. —Telegraph
