Girl in Bed
- Artist: Lucian Freud
- Date: 1952
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 18 in. x 12 in. (457 mm x 305 mm) overall
- Portrays: Lady Caroline Maureen Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “Girl in Bed” by Lucian Freud, painted in oil on canvas in 1952. Look at the sitter lying in a simple hotel room – the bed, the faint light, and her relaxed pose. You’ll notice her large eyes, an effect Freud called the “involuntary magnification” that appears when he applies his intense scrutiny technique.
The woman is Lady Caroline Maureen Hamilton‑Temple‑Blackwood, a writer who served as the artist’s muse in many of his portraits. He painted her here after they eloped to Paris and stayed at Hôtel La Louisiane together. They married in 1953 and divorced five years later, but this scene captures their early intimacy.
Freud described the method as “maximum observation,” which explains the precise rendering of fabric folds and facial details. He himself said the technique often made features appear a little bigger than life—just as we see here with Caroline’s eyes.
See it in person
Girl in Bed is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
