Martin Gayford's memoir details seven months sitting for Lucian Freud portrait

Martin Gayford's 2010 book 'Man with a Blue Scarf' chronicles his experience posing for Lucian Freud over seven months, culminating in a final sitting on July 4, 2004. The art critic describes Freud's meticulous painting process, beginning with a forehead dab and progressing methodically across the canvas. Freud's working habits included constant movement, murmuring, and occasional conversation about artists he admired or disliked. Gayford compares the sitting experience to transcendental meditation, though it evolved into a complex psychological exchange. The finished oil-on-linen portrait shows Gayford with a rare faint smile in Freud's oeuvre. Gayford's narrative provides insights into Freud's temperament, his preferences for van Gogh and Chardin over Raphael and Vermeer, and his impulsive decisions about portrait subjects. The book stands as a sitter's memoir alongside James Lord's 1965 account of posing for Alberto Giacometti. Published by Thames & Hudson, the 248-page volume captures the nuanced relationship between artist and subject during the portrait's creation in London.