The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Vertically oriented print in black ink of Leigh Bowery, a bald man with light skin tone, depicted from the shoulders up and shirtless, turned slightly to our left. Bowery's eyes are closed and his nose scrunched, particularly on the his right side. His face undulates with creases. His forehead takes up over a third of his head and a black spot marks his left cheek. Fine hatching outlines his his face, shading it in curves.

Large Head

1993

Lucian Freud

(British, 1922–2011)
publisher

Matthew Marks Gallery

printer

Studio Prints

England, 20th century
etching with scraping and burnishing
Sheet: 79.3 x 63.4 cm (31 1/4 x 24 15/16 in.); Platemark: 69.5 x 54.5 cm (27 3/8 x 21 7/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1996.233
Catalogue raisonné: Hartley 47; Hartley and Blanchebarbe 19
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The artist of this work, Lucien Freud, was the grandson of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis.

Description

The British artist Lucien Freud was known for portraiture, aiming to produce images that were "of the people not like them. Not having a look of the sitter, [but rather] being them." This image depicts performance artist Leigh Bowery, known for his elaborate costumes and makeup. Bowery became one of Freud's favorite subjects after they met in 1988 and he sat for numerous painted and printed portraits.
  • 1996-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • "PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS PUBLISHED." The Print Collector's Newsletter 24, no. 5 (1993): 185-88. Reproduced: p.186 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Annual Report 1996. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1997. Mentioned: p. 51; Reproduced: p. 40
    Glaubinger, Jane. “Fresh Prints: Take a look at the museum’s contemporary print acquisitions over the past 25 years.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 55, no. 2 (March/April 2015): 4-5. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 5 archive.org
  • Fresh Prints: The Nineties to Now. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 22-July 26, 2015).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (3/22/2015 - 7/26/2015); "Fresh Prints: The Nineties to Now"
    Contemporary Prints: Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 21, 1997).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 4/19/97 - 7/21/97. "Contemporary Prints: Recent Acquisitions."
  • {{cite web|title=Large Head|url=false|author=Lucian Freud, Matthew Marks Gallery, Studio Prints|year=1993|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1996.233