Picasso held Lucian Freud in ‘contempt’

Lucian Freud, seen by many as Britain's greatest living artist, seldom talks to the press. However, his daughter Bella Freud, who once served as a childhood model for the painter, has managed to get him to open up in an interview in the December issue of Harper's Bazaar, in which he discusses a visit to Picasso's studio.

"Was he friendly to you?" asks Bella. Freud (pictured), who will be 86 on Monday, replies: "Yes, in a hostile kind of way. He told me to look around the studio and sort out the paintings I liked best. I showed him what I'd chosen and he said: 'I'm glad you like those because they are among the things I did last week'."

Bella then asks her father, who in May broke the world record for money paid for a living artist when Benefits Supervisor Sleeping sold to Roman Abramovich for $33.6m, whether Picasso was an admirer of Freud's work. "Did you ever show him any of your work?" Bella inquires. "Yes, that was probably stupid. His response was polite contempt, really."