The Egyptian Book
The Egyptian Book
Signed Print
Lucian Freud
46 x 43cm, Edition of 40, Etching, 1994
£3,850-£6,000
$7,000-$11,000 Market Value Indicator
$7,000-$11,000 Market Value Indicator
¥35,000-¥50,000 Market Value Indicator
€4,450-€7,000 Market Value Indicator
$40,000-$60,000 Market Value Indicator
¥820,000-¥1,280,000 Market Value Indicator
$5,000-$8,000 Market Value Indicator
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Meaning & Analysis
The Egyptian Book (1994) is an etching by Lucian Freud that shows an open volume resting on a rumpled cloth surface. Across its pages are two sculpted heads, framed like illustrations in a catalogue or museum guide. The two enigmatic faces, with their stylised features, are reminiscent of ancient Egyptian artefacts.
Unusual in Freud’s work for its focus on objects rather than people, The Egyptian Book nonetheless feels closely tied to his ongoing interest in portraiture. The sculpted faces - fixed, mute, enduring - sit in contrast to the live, often unguarded subjects of his better-known prints. Yet the same attention to physical presence remains. The dense, tactile mark-making across the fabric, paper and stone gives weight to the image, as though time itself has settled into the folds.
