Printed by

Marc Balakjian, Studio Prints, London

Proofed by Paul Dewis, London Print Studio

Published by

Acquavella LLC, New York

Dimensions

Plate: 34.3 × 42.5 cm (13½ × 16¾ in.)

Sheet: 57.2 × 66 cm (22½ × 26 in.)

Literature

Tony Treves, Lucian Freud: Catalogue Raisonné of the Prints, No. 106.

Martin Gayford, Modernists & Mavericks, 2018, illustrated p.272.

Starr Figura, Lucian Freud: The Painter's Etchings, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2007, p.26, fig.12.

Public Collections

Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Provenance

Marlborough Graphics, Madrid (original 2011 invoice photograph retained, showing purchase for €24,000).

Marlborough Gallery label verso, stock no. GMOM21152.

Private Collection, Spain.

Condition

In very good condition.

Catalogue Note

Before the Fourth is among the most celebrated late etchings by Lucian Freud, depicting his close friend and frequent sitter Annabel Mullion during the final weeks of pregnancy with her fourth child, William Ajax Baring, who was born in June 2004. Executed with Freud's extraordinary sensitivity to the human form, the work exemplifies the uncompromising honesty and psychological intensity that define his portraiture.

Freud's relationship with Mullion extended over many years. He had first painted her in 1998 with her dog Rattler and returned to the subject shortly after this etching in the related oil painting Expecting the Fourth (2005). Rather than presenting pregnancy as an idealised state, Freud records it with remarkable directness, capturing both the physical presence and emotional dignity of his sitter. The composition possesses an intimacy that reflects the profound trust between artist and model, a quality that underpins many of Freud's greatest portraits.

Although best known as a painter, Freud regarded etching as an equally important means of artistic expression. Working directly onto the copper plate without preparatory drawings, he approached the medium with the same intensity as painting, building form through a dense network of finely observed lines. The resulting image possesses an exceptional richness of tone and tactile presence, demonstrating why Freud's prints are considered among the finest achievements in post-war British printmaking.

This etching formed part of the landmark exhibition Lucian Freud: The Painter's Etchings at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 2007–08, an exhibition that firmly established Freud's graphic work as a major contribution to twentieth-century printmaking. It is also represented in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The present impression benefits from distinguished provenance, having been acquired through Marlborough Graphics, Madrid, with documentary evidence of its original purchase in 2011, before passing into a private Spanish collection. Combined with its impeccable exhibition history, museum representation and intimate subject matter, Before the Fourth ranks among the most important etchings from Freud's mature period.