Frank Auerbach

Frank Auerbach is a German born painter, who is currently alive. He was born in Germany in 1939, but because he was Jewish, his parents sent him to England to escape the Nazi Party. His parents later died in concentration camps. In England, Auerbach's artistic talent was quickly recognized. He attended art school in London and later, the Royal College of Art. At 17 he met an actress, who would later become his model and lover. With her, he developed his intensive painting technique of reworking his paintings over hundreds of sittings. She was later quoted as describing this process as "quite an ordeal". His first solo exhibition was in 1956, which brought him much acclaim and recognition. Still a student, Auerbach took over a studio in Camden. However, the following two years he only produced about 10 drawings and no paintings. Auerbach explained his reason in an interview, "I somehow felt that what had been private had become public, I had put myself into a uniform: there I was, this chap who had done these thick paintings in earth colors." He later became a teacher at Camberwell School of arts, where he met his wife. Unfortunately, they would later break up, due to his continuing relationship with his first model and lover. Auerbach's paintings are classified as a category within Neo-Expressionism, figurative and landscape pieces. He has primarily painted the same three people for the majority of his life: his wife, a professional model, and his lover. His landscape pieces depict images close to his home, painting buildings and factories instead of traditional hills and farmland. His painting use an extremely thick layer of paint that is worked and reworked over hundreds of sittings. This technique gives each piece a sculptural effect. Today, Auerbach is regarded as a major retrospective artist. Following are a few of his pieces: