The British artist Lucian Freud is "very sentimental about Dublin", said his daughter, the novelist Rose Boyt, when she opened a major exhibition of his work at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin last night.
"He was planning to come over but he was unable to drag himself away from his work," she said.
Posing for the great artist "was quite mesmerising", recalled Boyt's husband, Mark Pearce, who was also at the opening as were the couple's children Stella (9) and Vincent (8). The portrait, which took almost two years to complete, is part of the show.
Best known for his nudes, Freud is the grandson of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. This show, which is curated by Catherine Lambert, includes a portrait of property developer Pat Doherty from Buncrana, Co Donegal.
The show is expected to attract a record 125,000 visitors before it closes on September 2nd. Admission is free.
