At the end of the twentieth century, figurative painter Lucian Freud (born 1922) came to dominate the London art scene like few others before him. His controversial work was in much demand throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, often setting sales records.

Lucian Freud, grandson of the noted psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, was born in Berlin on December 8, 1922, the second of three boys. He was named for his mother, Lucie. His father, Ernst, was an architect. In Berlin, the Freuds led a comfortable middle-class life (in an era of grave political instability in Germany). When Hitler came to power in 1933, Lucian's parents saw how their lives could change, even for secular Jews. They immigrated to England that same year.

Freud became a naturalized British citizen in 1939. From an early age, young Freud had exhibited an interest in art, which was fostered by his family. Even his grandfather, Sigmund, acknowledged his...