The New York Times reveals that Lucian Freud died Wednesday night after a brief illness:

Mr. Freud was a bohemian of the old school. He set up his studios in squalid neighborhoods, developed a Byronic reputation as a rake and gambled recklessly (“debit stimulates me,” he once said). In 1948, he married Kathleen Epstein, the daughter of the sculptor Jacob Epstein, whom he depicted in several portraits, notably “Girl With Roses,”“Girl With a Kitten” (1947) and “Girl With a White Dog” (1950-51).

That marriage ended in divorce. His early work, often with an implied narrative, was strongly influenced by the German Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) painters like Georg Grosz and Otto Dix, although his influences reached back to Albrecht Dürer and the Flemish masters like Hans Memling.

On occasion he ventured into Surrealist territory. In “The Painter’s Room” (1943), a zebra with red and yellow stripes pokes its head through the window of a studio furnished with a palm tree and sofa. A top hat sits on the floor.

Lucian Freud, Adept Portraiture Artist, Dies at 88 (New York Times)