Lucian Freud's Denied Early Portrait Authenticated and Exhibited

Man in a Black Scarf (1939), a portrait long denied by Lucian Freud, will be shown publicly for the first time at the Garden Museum in London from 2 June to 20 September 2026. The painting depicts John Jameson, a friend of Freud and scion of the whiskey family. Freud repeatedly denied the work was his before his death in 2011, likely due to a personal feud with original owners Denis Wirth-Miller and Richard Chopping. Designer Jon Lys Turner inherited the painting from Wirth-Miller, who wanted it authenticated and sold to infuriate Freud. After 19 years of failed attempts, evidence emerged in 2018 from Tate Britain archives showing Freud had painted Jameson in 1939. The portrait will be featured in the exhibition Benton End: A Paradise of Pollen and Paint, which highlights the overlooked influence of Cedric Morris on Freud. Turner notes stylistic similarities to Freud's later portrait of Morris, held in the National Museum of Wales. The painting was valued at over £300,000 in 2016; Freud's auction record is $86 million.