4 JANUARY 1997, Page 22

Best, but not pleased

Sir: Giles Auty (Letters, 7 December) points out that Lucian Freud is the 'fore- most British painter of this century'.

Looking, for instance, at 'Girl with a White Dog' in the Tate Gallery, with its perfect technique and air of mystery, one can agree; this picture is a masterpiece, but there is something sinister about the whole oeuvre, and particularly when he is linked with Francis Bacon. There is a drab, subur- ban feel to it all with a tinge of rather nasty sex in those meticulously painted genitals. So while we agree that Freud is best in Britain let's not be pleased about it.

Robert Lowis

Trans-African Guides, Box 15180, Nairobi, Kenya