This is not a comfortable exhibition; this is an intense exhibition

William Feaver

Freud has often been accused of "uglifying" his subjects and his recent portrait of the Queen divided critics.

One described it as "brave", while another claimed it was a "travesty".

Curator and art critic, William Feaver, said the show will be "unlike any other exhibition".

He added: "There is no theme to the retrospective other than a deep interest in each subject."

Uncomfortable

The centrepiece of the show, which opens on 20 June, is the pivotal Large Interiors W11 (after Watteau) painted between 1981 and 1983.

It features an omnipresent plant and several seated and lying figures and inexorably draws the attention to the hands.

Mr Feaver said: "He is not an academic painter. This is not a comfortable exhibition. This is an intense exhibition."

Freud designed the poster

Freud was born in Berlin, a grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, and came to England with his parents in 1931. He acquired British nationality in 1939.

Portraits and nudes are his specialities. His meticulous style has been described as "realist" and set him apart from other more figurative British artists since World War II.

He has said of his work: "I paint people not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be."

Reward

There appears to be little chance of a sudden reappearance of Freud's missing cameo of his friend and fellow artist Francis Bacon.

It was stolen from a show in Berlin 14 years ago and has never been seen since in public.

Last summer The British Council offered a �100,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of a stolen portrait.

Freud also designed a poster, hoping that it would jog people's memories in the German capital.

Mr Feaver said: "There is no current likelihood of the missing Bacon portrait reappearing for the exhibition."