In 1964 Lucian Freud set his students at the Norwich College of Art an assignment: to paint naked self-portraits and to make them revealing, telling, believable ... really shameless. It was advice that the artist was often to follow himself. Visceral, unflinching and often nude, Freud's self-portraits chart his biography and give us an insight into the development of his style. These paintings provide the viewer with a constant reminder of the artist's overwhelming presence, whether he is confronting the viewer directly or only present as a shadow or in a reflection. Freud's exploration of the self-portrait is unexpected and wide-ranging. In this volume, essays by leading authorities, including those who knew him, explore Freud's life and work, and analyze the importance of self-portraiture in his practice. Exhibition: Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (27.10.2019-26.01.2020) / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA (22.02.-25.05.2020).