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Bella - Signed Print by Lucian Freud 1987 - MyArtBroker

Bella
Signed Print

Lucian Freud

Price data unavailable

AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

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Medium: Etching

Edition size: 50

Year: 1987

Size: H 43cm x W 35cm

Signed: Yes

Format: Signed Print

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Track auction value trend

The value of Lucian Freud’s Bella, a signed etching from 1987, is estimated to be worth between £13,000 and £19,000. This artwork has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 7%. This is a rare work with an auction history of 17 total sales since its entry to the market in February 2012. In the last 12 months, the hammer price has ranged from £12,000 in December 2021 to £28,858 in October 2021. The average return to the seller over the past five years has been £14,976. Bella is part of a limited edition of 50 and presents a valuable investment opportunity.

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Auction Results

Auction DateAuction HouseLocation
Hammer Price
Return to Seller
Buyer Paid
Sotheby's London United Kingdom
December 2021Bonhams New Bond Street United Kingdom
October 2021Christie's New York United States
September 2019Sotheby's London United Kingdom
September 2015Sotheby's London United Kingdom
March 2015Sotheby's London United Kingdom
April 2014Sotheby's London United Kingdom

Meaning & Analysis

To be the child of a committed artist often has its tensions. No matter the love Freud had for his 14 children, his dedication to his craft made him a less than conventional father: distant and preoccupied by his art. However, as David Kamp observed after Freud's death in 2011, "his children generally seemed to accept that sitting for Freud was the way to have a fulfilling relationship with their father". Bella Freud, acclaimed fashion designer and daughter to Lucian, was one of the artist's children that returned to model for her father throughout his career.

Despite the intimate bond we might expect between father and daughter, Bella reveals a potential uneasiness and coolness between them. Though Bella was only 26-years-old when modelling for this etching, Freud has captured her with an intensity typical of his work. Her downturned eyes reflect barely any light, and every modulation and crevice of her skin is depicted with scrutinous hatching. Indeed, given that Lucian himself was grandson to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, we can infer the psychological potency which shapes this work. From the work we see the potential frictions between father and daughter, both during Bella's sitting and in their entire relationship. Bella not only shows us how Freud viewed his daughter, it also reflects something of how Freud perceived himself in his relationship with his children.

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