Two Japanese Wrestlers by a Sink

Contemporary Art

1983/87

Lucian Freud
English, born Germany, 1922–2011

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Contemporary Art

Artist: Lucian Freud
Title: Two Japanese Wrestlers by a Sink
Place: England (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1983–1987
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 50.8 × 78.7 cm (20 × 31 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Frederic G. Pick; through prior gift of Mr. and Mrs. Carter H. Harrison
Reference Number: 1987.275

Henry Meyric Hughes, Andrea Rose, and Robert Hughes, Lucian Freud Paintings, exh. cat. (London: The British Council in association with Thames and Hudson Ltd and South Bank Centre Publications, 1987), n.p.(color ill.), 133
Henry Meyric Hughes, Andrea Rose, and Robert Hughes, Lucian Freud Paintings, exh. cat. (London: The British Council in association with Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1987), n.p.(color ill.), 117.
Robert Storr, “In The Flesh: Lucian Freud,” Art in America, 76, no. 5 (May 1988): 133.
Marina Warner, “Lucian Freud: The Unblinking Eye,” New York Times Magazine, Dec. 4, 1988, 68, 70 (ill.), 96, 110-111, 122, 130.
Catherine Lampert, Lucian Freud: Recent Work, exh. cat. (London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1993), 70-71 (color ill.).
María de Corral López-Doriga and Catherine Lampert, Lucian Freud, exh. cat. (Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 1994), 50, 51 (color ill.), 156.
Angus Cook, “Seeing Things,” in Lucian Freud: Recent Drawings and Etchings, exh. cat. (New York: Matthew Marks Gallery, 1993), n.p., as Two Japanese Wrestlers Near a Sink.
Robert Hughes, “The Fat Lady Sings,” TIME, 142, no. 27 (Dec. 27, 1993), 74 (color ill.), 75.
John McEwen, “Revealed, cornered in his lair, a master,” The Sunday Telegraph, Sept. 12, 1993, 67.
Robert Hughes, “Freudian Analysis,” TIME, Jan. 17, 1994, 45–46.
Bruce Bernard and Derek Birdsall, Lucian Freud (London: Jonathan Cape, 1996), 19, n.p. (color ill.) as pl. 194, 356.
Craig Hartley, Jean-Christophe Ammann, Rolf Lauter, Lucian Freud: Naked Portraits: Works from the 1940s to the 1990s, exh. cat. (Frankfurt am Main: MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, 2001), 120, 170, 171 (color ill.), 173 (color ill. detail).
William Feaver and Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud, exh. cat. (London: Tate Publishing, 2002), 158 (color ill.), 222.
Heinz Spielmann, “The Unadorned Experience of the World. In the paintings of Lucian Freud,” in Lucian Freud: Prints, exh. cat. (Reutlingen: Städtisches Kunstmuseum Spendhaus Reutlingen, 2002), 14 (ill.), 16.
William Feaver, Lucian Freud, exh. cat. (Milano: Electa, 2005), 110, 111 (color ill.), 198.
William Feaver, Lucian Freud (New York: Rizzoli, 2007), 269, as cat. 222 (color ill.), 477.
Sebastian Smee, Lucian Freud (Köln: Taschen, 2007), 62-63 (color ill.).
Cécile Debray, Lucian Freud: L’Atelier, exh. cat. (Paris: Centre Pompidou, 2010), 90 (color ill.), 226.
Sabine Haag, Jasper Sharp, ed., and Ben Street, Lucian Freud: Eine Ausstellung Des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien/Lucian Freud: An Exhibition of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, exh. cat. (Munich: Prestel, 2013), 194, 195 (color ill.).
John Elderfield and Peter Galassi, In the Studio: Volume 1, exh. cat. (New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2015), 132, 133 (color ill.), 174.
Andrew Brighton, “London: Painting in the Time of Modernist Art,” in All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life, exh cat. (London: Tate, 2018), 32, 33 (color ill.).
Martin Gayford, Lucian Freud, Volume 1 (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2018), 12.
Martin Gayford, Lucian Freud, Volume 2 (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2018), 94-95 (color ill.).
William Feaver, The Lives of Lucian Freud, Volume 2 (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019), 193, 394.
Brad Finger, Freud (Munich: Prestel, 2020), 80, 81 (color ill.).

Washington D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Lucian Freud: Paintings, Sept. 15–Nov. 29, 1987, cat. 81; Paris, Musee National d’Art Moderne, Dec. 16, 1987–Jan. 24, 1988; London, South Bank Centre, Hayward Gallery, Feb. 4–Apr. 7, 1988; Berlin, Neue Nationalgalerie, May 6–June 12, 1988.
London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Lucien Freud, Sept. 10–Nov. 21, 1993, cat. 26; New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dec. 16, 1993–Mar. 13, 1994; Madrid, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Apr. 19–June 21, 1994, no cat. no. (NY and Madrid only).
Frankfurt, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Change of Scene XVIII, Sept. 29, 2000–Mar. 5, 2001, cat. 13.
London, Tate Britain, Lucian Freud, June 20–Sept. 22, 2002, cat. 101; Barcelona, Fundació la Caixa Barcelona, Oct. 24, 2002–Jan. 12, 2003 (preview date of Oct. 23); Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art, Feb. 9–May 25, 2003.
Venice, Italy, Museu Civici Veneziani, Museo Correr, Lucien Freud, June 11–Oct. 30, 2005, cat. 36.
Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Lucian Freud: The Studio, Mar. 10, 2010–July 19, 2010, no cat. no.
Vienna, Kunshistoriches Museum Wien, Lucien Freud, Oct. 8, 2013–Jan. 6, 2014 (extended to Jan. 12th), cat. 27; Bilbao, Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Feb. 6, 2014–May 18, 2014 (Vienna only).
New York, Gagosian Gallery, In the Studio, Feb. 17, 2015–Apr. 18, 2015, no cat. no.

The artist; sold through James Kirkman Limited, London, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Nov. 19, 1987.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Currently Off View

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

Currently Off View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share