The Lives of Lucian Freud: The Restless Years

Praise

“Gossipy, enthralling…this book captures the age in which Freud lived during the first half of his long life…One could say that “The Restless Years,” with its vivid anecdotes and rakish candor, is a kind of collaboration between Freud and Mr. Feaver.”—Dominic Green, The Wall Street Journal

“It is rare that a subject’s voice rings so clearly through his own biography, and its salty, bragging, screw-you tone, its barbed humor and sudden darts into seriousness, fleet as a fish, are among the main pleasures of this book…the writer’s deep background as a critic shines through.”—Jan Dalley, The Financial Times

“Art, debauchery, nightlife, and lowlifes fill out this rollicking biography of the celebrated British painter…the result is a riotously entertaining narrative that immerses readers in Freud’s beguiling sensibility.” –Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“As entertaining, and full of twists and turns, as a picaresque novel … It has amazing zip and gusto, and leaves you wanting more. Which is just as well: there is a second volume to follow. I can’t wait.” —Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday

“Authoritative and exhaustive. Happy accident that it’s so lovely to read.” —Rumaan Alam, The New Republic
“Sensational . . . Rich with gossip and stories.” —Vogue

“One of the most intimate biographies of an artist ever written … A delight” —Literary Review

“Lucian Freud never wanted anyone to understand him.  He wanted to be known as a painter but not as a person and during his lifetime he largely succeeded. But William Feaver . . . has done a brilliant job of illuminating his difficult, provocative personality.”—Lynn Barber, The Daily Telegraph (Starred Review)

“Lucian Freud lived recklessly and selfishly—and made paintings unlike anything in the history of art… Freud didn’t want a biography published in his lifetime, but he chose to talk amply with Feaver . . . with a dictaphone stretched to the limits, Feaver had the most superlative material—and he was bound to it. Large tracts of what we have here are Freud by Freud.” —Alexandra Harris, The Guardian

“Mesmerizing, almost surreal in its headlong layering of detail, memory and gossip. Propelled by Freud’s sardonic recollections, and lit throughout by William Feaver’s impeccable, penetrating analysis of the work, this is a monstrously brilliant portrait.” —Jenny Uglow, author of Mr. Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense

“Lucian Freud was unique; unique in intensity, in affection, in interest and in fun. This brilliant and compendious biography has the same qualities. It does justice to Lucian.” —Frank Auerbach

“The young Lucian Freud was ‘a comet of astonishing brilliance,’ said one writer. In William Feaver’s The Lives of Lucian Freud: The Restless Years, 1922-1968, based upon decades of conversation with the painter, we hear Freud’s remarkable voice on almost every page. The result is a vivid, intimate biography of one of the 20th century’s most storied artists.” —Annalyn Swan and Mark Stevens, authors of de Kooning: An American Master