Frank Auerbach exhibition at Tate Britain

Frank Auerbach
Head of J.Y.M ll 1984-85
Painting
Oil on canvas
660 x 610 mm
Courtesy of Javier Baz

Frank Auerbach exhibition at Tate Britain As Frank Auerbach reaches his 84th birthday, Tate Britain opens a major exhibition of around 70 paintings and drawings from the 1950s to the present day. 9 October 2015 – 13 March 2016.]]>

Source: Tate Britain

Painting 365 days a year, Auerbach produces his characteristically tactile and visually dynamic work in the same studio he has occupied since 1954. For half a century he has worked in an uncompromising way, scraping back the surface of the canvas to start and re-start the painting process. He begins afresh for months or years until the single painting or drawing is realised in a matter of hours, having finally surprised him.

The depth, texture and sense of space in a painting by Auerbach makes standing in front of one a unique experience. The vast majority of works in the exhibition are from private collections and seldom on public display, providing a rare opportunity to see these important works in the flesh. It includes early portraits such as “Head of Leon Kossoff” 1954, as well as landscapes such as “Building Site, Earl’s Court, Winter” 1953 which come out of Auerbach’s identification with post-war London as a raw unpainted city rebuilt after bombing.

Large works from the 1960s include “E.O.W”, “S.A.W”. and “J.J.W in the Garden II” 1964 and “The Origin of the Great Bear”, 1967-68, a mythological landscape set on London’s Hampstead Heath. “Primrose Hill” 1971 and “Looking Towards Mornington Crescent Station” 1972-74 also use expressive directional brushstrokes to suggest London’s foliage, street lamps and passers-by. Portraits of Auerbach’s longstanding model Juliet Yardley Mills, “Head of J.Y.M. II” 1984-85 and of his wife, “Head of Julia II” 1985 will also be shown, revealing a freer, more fluid treatment of paint. Auerbach’s more recent paintings of Mornington Crescent underline his identification with the area, such as “The House II” 2011, along with further portraits of the five sitters, Julia, Jake Auerbach, Catherine Lampert, David Landau and William Feaver, who visit his studio each week.

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