Auerbach And His ‘sculptured’ Paintings

By Author: Ryan George
Total Articles: 6
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There is no clear cut reason for inspiration, it can come from anywhere at any time, and for Frank Auerbach it comes from his everyday life. His surroundings, his specific models, Auerbach rarely ventured into the unknown. Yet somehow, he manages to give each piece a distinct character, a life of its own.

Arriving in London in the 1930’s as a young child, Auerbach’s parents, however, remained in Germany and later died in a concentration camp during the Nazi regime. He attended the Bunce Court boarding school, where he also showed his capacity for acting in stage productions. Since his arrival in London in the 30’s the artist has very rarely ventured elsewhere and is believed to have travelled abroad only about five times.

He relied on a few tried and tested models, such as Stella West, referred to as E.O.W - her initials. He met the 32 year old widow in his 17th year, during a stage production, there after started a passionate relationship that spanned 23 years. His marriage to Julia Wolstenholme, an art student too suffered as a result of this all consuming relationship with West, but it came to an abrupt ...
... end in the 70’s, after which he reunited with his former wife and their only son.

The allure of Auerbach’s art lay in the sheer depth of his paintings that are created with layer upon layer of paint. His art has been described as sculpture as the layers of paint create and embossed effect with paintings being given a life or reality of their own. He is said to have on many occasions scraped of the paint and to have started re-working on piece which sometimes resulted in the canvas getting torn and needing patching. His work does not always clearly define his subjects but instead lets you feel the passion behind it. At times this passion, the need to achieve perfection led so many layers of paint to be used on the paintings that they had to be displayed flat on the ground, for fear of the paint falling off and as the canvases were extremely heavy.

Enjoying fine art is one of those little pleasures we can give ourselves to break free from the mundane routine that at times takes over our day to day lives. Visit “Richard Green” and browse through their selection. See which art appeals to you and acquire for yourself a little bit of pleasure to be enjoyed by you and your family for generations to come.

To find out more about fine art London and Frank Auerbach visit “Richard Green”.