Bella (Second Version)

Freud is celebrated for his psychologically penetrating, realistic portraiture, usually of members of his close circle and family. Primarily a painter and draughtsman, particularly of the nude model from life, in his last decades he also produced a powerful body of graphic work. This etching depicts his daughter, Bella, one of his two daughters with Bernardine Coverley, and a frequent model, then aged 21. His etching process demonstrates how he builds form, tone, and texture using only the etching needle and black ink. He focuses on Bella's face, using cross-hatching to create shadows. Bella's hand, only lightly modelled, is ultimately cropped out of the frame.