Thomas Micchelli reviews the exhibition Lucian Freud: Drawings at Acquavella Galleries, New York, on view through June 9, 2012.

Micchelli writes: "Freud, who prided himself on his draftsmanship, stopped drawing [in 1958], and didn't pick it up again until years later… The earlier works are not attempts 'at a record,' as the artist described his later painting, but layered images of sculptural form, calligraphic line and riffing imagination…" Micchelli continues noting that in Freud's drawings "most of the work retains an openness to the unknown – the quality most lacking in Freud’s unvarying technique and theatrically staged compositions."