The Queen sits for Lucian Freud 2001

The photograph shows the artist painting his portrait of The Queen during one of the sittings which took place in the Picture Conservation Studio at Friary Court, St James’s Palace, between May 2000 and December 2001. Recalling the conversations exchanged during the various sessions, Freud later described the sitter as ‘interesting … and very surprising … [and] very, very open-minded’.

No. 95