Still sitting after all these years

David Dawson is a master at sitting still, said Ben Luke in the London Evening Standard. Every day for the past two and a half years, Dawson has been sitting in the same position and spot for hours along with his whippet, Eli, as the painter Lucian Freud labors over his portrait. “I am naked, sitting upright on the wooden floor, with Eli by my side,” says Dawson of his days, which begin at 8 a.m. and stretch into the afternoon. “It’s quite a large work.”

Freud, 88, is a notoriously slow worker, but, for the most part, Dawson doesn’t seem to mind. “Of course, there are days when you just feel, ‘Good God! Move on a bit faster!’” he says. “But that’s the way Lucian works, he keeps pushing a bit more every day and it slowly becomes more accomplished.”

Lest Freud slow things down even more, he and Dawson seldom speak during their sittings. “I don’t start talking about his paintings when he is in the middle of things. I know when to talk and when not to talk.” Dawson, a painter himself, is enduring his ordeal solely for the experience of working with Freud. “I really do rate him as an amazing painter. That is what I am with every day. And if you’re trying to up your game, it’s a good thing.’’

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up