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Lucian Freud; Brendan Behan

5 of 15 portraits of Brendan Behan

© estate of Daniel Farson / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Lucian Freud; Brendan Behan

by Daniel Farson
bromide print, 1 August 1952
7 3/4 in. x 7 5/8 in. (196 mm x 193 mm) image size
Purchased, 1985
Photographs Collection
NPG x22187

Sittersback to top

  • Brendan Behan (1923-1964), Writer and playwright. Sitter in 15 portraits.
  • Lucian Freud (1922-2011), Artist. Sitter in 65 portraits, Artist or producer of 6 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Daniel Farson (1927-1997), Photographer and writer. Artist or producer of 47 portraits, Sitter in 6 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Farson photographed painter Lucian Freud (1922-2011) and writer Brendan Behan (1923-64) in Dublin, a year after Freud had won the Arts Council prize at the Festival of Britain (1951) but before Behan was 'discovered beyond the city'.
Farson found Dublin to be 'even more carefree than Soho' and on the suggestion of Freud's friend John Ryan, he had an extended visit documenting Behan, financed, although never published by, Picture Post.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Gayford, Martin (introduction) Hockney, David (appreciation), Lucian Freud: Painting People, 2012 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 9 February to 28 May 2012), p. 25
  • Howgate, Sarah (introduction) Auping, Michael (appreciation) Richardson, John (appreciation), Lucian Freud: Portraits, 2012 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 9 February to 28 May 2012), p. 228

Placesback to top

  • Place made and portrayed: Ireland (Dublin, Ireland)

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1952back to top

Current affairs

King George VI is found dead in his bed in Sandringham; he had been suffering from lung cancer. His daughter Elizabeth, who was in Kenya at the time, became Queen, the only monarch not to know the precise moment of her accession as her father was alone when he died. Elizabeth was crowned the following year.

Art and science

Samuel Beckett's play, Waiting for Godot is performed for the first time in Paris. The play belongs to the Theatre of the Absurd style, which influenced playwrights such as Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard.
Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap opens in London. It is still going.

International

Mau Mau rebels in Kenya rise up against the British colonial administration. The rebellion was sparked by the growing poverty of the native farmers under the rule of white settlers and called for Kenyan independence. The violence of the rebels, who often murdered settlers and loyalists, was met by the indiscriminate suppression by the British Military, who executed hundreds of suspects.

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