Freud centenary exhibit reunites artist with closest friends

A close-up view of 'Girl In A Dark Jacket' (1947), which exemplifies Lucien Freud’s crisp, early style and depicts Kitty Garman, his first wife and the daughter of sculptor Jacob Epstein and Kathleen Garman. Photo: Handout

British artists Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon were friends for decades before a bitter falling out.

Now a new exhibition explores the pair's friendship with two other influential painters with whom they shared models, rivalries and a belief in portraiture in 1950s and 1960s London.