Gambling artist Lucian Freud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"lucien](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Lucien-Freud.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nLucian Freud was born in 1922 in Berlin. The grandson of the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, Freud moved to London at an early age to flee Nazi Germany in the 1930s; eventually becoming a British citizen. His early work as a painter was influenced by surrealism<\/a>, but by the 1950s he developed a style of his own. A notoriously private man, Freud would go on to produce portraits of close friends and family in thick, blobby oils that depicted individuals and interiors with a style of realism never before seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHis works are noted for their psychological penetration and even discomforting appearance. Painting from life, much like his grandfather, Freud would expose his models to punishing sessions. Forcing them to endure hours of sittings while he would work and rework from life over a period of many months. Meticulously he would paint each wrinkle of flesh under incredible scrutiny and deliberately unflattering intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Freud was a notoriously private man. Throughout his long career, he became a sort of Orwellian character ,bridging the history of the various cult eras. He rubbed shoulders with the likes of Greta Garbo, Sinatra and even the notorious Kray Twins, England\u2019s most famous gangsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite his attempts at privacy, Freud would go on to enjoy a 60-year career until his death. Many recognize him as one of the most famous figurative artists of the 20th<\/sup> century. His painting Benefits Supervisor Sleeping<\/em>, a life-size portrait of a job center worker, sold for a record $32 million in 2008. At the time, this was the highest amount ever paid at private auction for the work of a living artist. Only those closest to him however, knew of his incredible gambling habit that became stuff of legend.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGambling artist Francis Bacon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"francis](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Francis-Bacon.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nA close Friend to Freud, Francis Bacon, the Irish-born British figurative painter is known for his bold, raw and emotionally charged imagery. Born in the first decade of the 20th<\/sup> century, Bacon would go on to become an outlier, unaffiliated with any particular movement within the art world. He remained an enigmatic figure throughout much of his life despite achieving post-war success in London in the late 1950s. He is now considered one of the most important figurative painters of the last century.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDespite having no formal training, Bacon started as a furniture and carpet designer early in his career. Heavily inspired by Picasso, he would go on to become a painter. Bacon created haunting images of abstracted figures, isolated bits of flesh set against cold, stark geometric spaces and fractured portraits of close friends and associates (including Freud). The devilish grins, gnawing teeth and gaping mouths that lace his work still enthrall spectators to this day. His visceral oil paintings made in thick impasto on exposed canvas share an expression of frozen horror that only the artist himself was all too familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Living large<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Though a difficult man to work with, Bacon carried with him, sophistication, wit and charm. He enjoyed socializing and spoiling friends with nights out in smoky restaurants. He ordered only expensive bottles of champagne or tins of caviar. A formidable presence who lived for the moment, Bacon imbued an intensity that only helped fuel his notoriety among the social circles of the period. Remaining a prolific painter until his death in 1992 Bacon\u2019s art contains a depth that matched only by the ferocity with which he lived: socializing, drinking and yes, copious amounts of gambling. \u00a0Back in 2013, a 1969 triptych \u201cThree Studies of Lucian Freud\u201d made by Bacon of his friend smashed auction records, selling for a mind-blowing $142.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The great muse: Gambling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"gamblers](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Paintbrushes-tubes-of-paint-and-gambling-chips-on-a-table.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nBased on the lifestyles of both artists it must come as no surprise that they had an affinity for gambling. Their attitude toward games of chance was much like their attitude toward life, all or nothing. Outsiders might consider the cavalier handling of their own finances in the casino as reckless, but to Freud and Bacon, win or lose it was all about the thrill of playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Friends close to Freud would claim, \u201cHe would gamble until he had nothing left and that somehow freed him up to then start painting again.\u201d Bacon would remark that for him gambling was the center of two extremes. He enjoyed the feeling that it brought: jubilation when winning and despair when losing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The artists\u2019 love of the gamble is better understood when looking at how they approached painting. Both would claim that when painting they felt like they walked a razor\u2019s edge between control and losing that control. Each stroke of the brush was the difference between brilliance and disaster. The nature of paint was as unpredictable as one\u2019s luck at a casino table. The higher the stakes, the greater the thrill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later in life after finding financial fortune in his career, Freud would give up gambling, claiming that it lost its thrill when he realized that he could afford to lose $1 million in a day and not feel<\/em> the repercussions. To Bacon however, chance was his god, and he never gave it up. Often frequenting the private roulette parlors of England and Monaco.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWin or Lose<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Freud, who loved horses, would frequently bet at the horse track. Unfortunately, for Freud, his compulsion to gamble, whatever the stakes, lead many racetracks in the south of England to ban him by 1983. This was mostly due to the reputation he built as a bad debtor. This did not deter the artist however, and he would often use disguises to enter his favorite horse races and continue to bet; even having friends help him in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nLucian Freud was born in 1922 in Berlin. The grandson of the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, Freud moved to London at an early age to flee Nazi Germany in the 1930s; eventually becoming a British citizen. His early work as a painter was influenced by surrealism<\/a>, but by the 1950s he developed a style of his own. A notoriously private man, Freud would go on to produce portraits of close friends and family in thick, blobby oils that depicted individuals and interiors with a style of realism never before seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His works are noted for their psychological penetration and even discomforting appearance. Painting from life, much like his grandfather, Freud would expose his models to punishing sessions. Forcing them to endure hours of sittings while he would work and rework from life over a period of many months. Meticulously he would paint each wrinkle of flesh under incredible scrutiny and deliberately unflattering intensity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Freud was a notoriously private man. Throughout his long career, he became a sort of Orwellian character ,bridging the history of the various cult eras. He rubbed shoulders with the likes of Greta Garbo, Sinatra and even the notorious Kray Twins, England\u2019s most famous gangsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite his attempts at privacy, Freud would go on to enjoy a 60-year career until his death. Many recognize him as one of the most famous figurative artists of the 20th<\/sup> century. His painting Benefits Supervisor Sleeping<\/em>, a life-size portrait of a job center worker, sold for a record $32 million in 2008. At the time, this was the highest amount ever paid at private auction for the work of a living artist. Only those closest to him however, knew of his incredible gambling habit that became stuff of legend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A close Friend to Freud, Francis Bacon, the Irish-born British figurative painter is known for his bold, raw and emotionally charged imagery. Born in the first decade of the 20th<\/sup> century, Bacon would go on to become an outlier, unaffiliated with any particular movement within the art world. He remained an enigmatic figure throughout much of his life despite achieving post-war success in London in the late 1950s. He is now considered one of the most important figurative painters of the last century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite having no formal training, Bacon started as a furniture and carpet designer early in his career. Heavily inspired by Picasso, he would go on to become a painter. Bacon created haunting images of abstracted figures, isolated bits of flesh set against cold, stark geometric spaces and fractured portraits of close friends and associates (including Freud). The devilish grins, gnawing teeth and gaping mouths that lace his work still enthrall spectators to this day. His visceral oil paintings made in thick impasto on exposed canvas share an expression of frozen horror that only the artist himself was all too familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though a difficult man to work with, Bacon carried with him, sophistication, wit and charm. He enjoyed socializing and spoiling friends with nights out in smoky restaurants. He ordered only expensive bottles of champagne or tins of caviar. A formidable presence who lived for the moment, Bacon imbued an intensity that only helped fuel his notoriety among the social circles of the period. Remaining a prolific painter until his death in 1992 Bacon\u2019s art contains a depth that matched only by the ferocity with which he lived: socializing, drinking and yes, copious amounts of gambling. \u00a0Back in 2013, a 1969 triptych \u201cThree Studies of Lucian Freud\u201d made by Bacon of his friend smashed auction records, selling for a mind-blowing $142.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Based on the lifestyles of both artists it must come as no surprise that they had an affinity for gambling. Their attitude toward games of chance was much like their attitude toward life, all or nothing. Outsiders might consider the cavalier handling of their own finances in the casino as reckless, but to Freud and Bacon, win or lose it was all about the thrill of playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friends close to Freud would claim, \u201cHe would gamble until he had nothing left and that somehow freed him up to then start painting again.\u201d Bacon would remark that for him gambling was the center of two extremes. He enjoyed the feeling that it brought: jubilation when winning and despair when losing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The artists\u2019 love of the gamble is better understood when looking at how they approached painting. Both would claim that when painting they felt like they walked a razor\u2019s edge between control and losing that control. Each stroke of the brush was the difference between brilliance and disaster. The nature of paint was as unpredictable as one\u2019s luck at a casino table. The higher the stakes, the greater the thrill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later in life after finding financial fortune in his career, Freud would give up gambling, claiming that it lost its thrill when he realized that he could afford to lose $1 million in a day and not feel<\/em> the repercussions. To Bacon however, chance was his god, and he never gave it up. Often frequenting the private roulette parlors of England and Monaco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Freud, who loved horses, would frequently bet at the horse track. Unfortunately, for Freud, his compulsion to gamble, whatever the stakes, lead many racetracks in the south of England to ban him by 1983. This was mostly due to the reputation he built as a bad debtor. This did not deter the artist however, and he would often use disguises to enter his favorite horse races and continue to bet; even having friends help him in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGambling artist Francis Bacon<\/h2>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nLiving large<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The great muse: Gambling<\/h2>\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nWin or Lose<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"casino](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Casino-with-Monaco-flag.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n