A collection of previously unseen drawings, etchings and paintings by British artist Lucian Freud will be showcased at the National Portrait Gallery early next year in what will be the UK’s most comprehensive museum exhibition of his works.
Drawing into Painting will be part of the National Portrait Gallery’s programme in 2026, and is comprised of unseen work by the artist, including childhood drawings, 48 sketchbooks, letters and unfinished paintings which are part of the Lucian Freud Archive at the gallery.
Despite being best known as a painter, Freud’s exhibition will focus on his drawings, among other mediums, looking at how these highlight some of the most significant changes to his work.
The collection includes 170 drawings, etchings and paintings, and highlights include one of Freud’s most ambitious figure paintings, Large Interior, W11 (1981–3), a response to Jean-Antoine Watteau’s painting, Pierrot Content (1712).
Watteau’s piece will also be featured in the exhibition, and is on loan from the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid.
Drawing into Painting will highlight the working process of Freud across mediums, and will feature drawings and etchings from the 20th century artist which have a relationship with specific paintings, including his repeated attempts over the years to copy John Constable’s Study of the Trunk of an Elm Tree (1821), which inspired his painting After Constable’s Elm (2003).
Drawing into Painting will also see Constable’s painting on display alongside Freud’s work.
The exhibition is curated by the NPG’s senior curator of contemporary collections, Sarah Howgate, in collaboration with artist and director of the Lucian Freud Archive, David Dawson.
It is also accompanied by a publication with the same title, which includes the curator’s conversations with Bella Freud and David Dawson, and contributions from Colm Toibin, Catherine Lampert, Tanya Bentley and Isabel Seligman.
Speaking about the upcoming collection, curator Ms Howgate said: “Lucian Freud was one of the greatest observers of the human condition in the 20th century.
“Widely known as a painter, this exhibition interrogates his lesser-known work as a draughtsman.
“I am excited that Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting brings together the artist’s finest drawings from all over the world, some seen in this exhibition for the first time, and reunites them with the corresponding paintings.”
She added: “This exhibition, taking place in London, the city Freud loved more than any other, reveals a less familiar side of his work, a wonderful opportunity to understand his behind-the-scenes workings and day-to-day thinking as an artist.”
Drawing into Painting will be part of the National Portrait Gallery’s programme from February 12 to May 4 2026.
