Frank Auerbach, 1931
Frank Auerbach was born in Berlin, Germany in 1931 and at the age of seven immigrated to England to avoid Nazi persecution. He studied at the Royal College of Art from 1952 to 1955 and his first solo exhibition took place at the Beaux Arts Gallery in London in 1956. In 1986, Auerbach represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, where he received the Golden Lion award for the presentation, along with peer Sigmar Polke. Subsequent solo exhibitions have taken place at the Royal Academy, the National Gallery, the Rijksmuseum and most recently in 2015-16 the Tate held a third retrospective to celebrate the artist’s 84th birthday, brought together by one of his sitters, the curator Catherine Lampert. Auerbach currently resides in North London, working from the same studio for the past fifty years.
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Frank Auerbach, 1931
Frank Auerbach was born in Berlin, Germany in 1931 and at the age of seven immigrated to England to avoid Nazi persecution. He studied at the Royal College of Art from 1952 to 1955 and his first solo exhibition took place at the Beaux Arts Gallery in London in 1956. In 1986, Auerbach represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, where he received the Golden Lion award for the presentation, along with peer Sigmar Polke. Subsequent solo exhibitions have taken place at the Royal Academy, the National Gallery, the Rijksmuseum and most recently in 2015-16 the Tate held a third retrospective to celebrate the artist’s 84th birthday, brought together by one of his sitters, the curator Catherine Lampert. Auerbach currently resides in North London, working from the same studio for the past fifty years.
Biography
| 1931 | Born in Berlin, Germany |
| 1948-52 | Attends St. Martin's School of Art, London, UK |
| 1952-55 | The Royal College of Art, London, UK |
| 1986 | Represents Britain in British Pavilion at the 42nd Venice Biennale; wins Golden Lion prize |
| 1995 | National Gallery exhibition, Working after the Masters, highlights his works in the National Gallery collection over a 30-year period |
| 2001 | Royal Academy marks his 71st year with retrospective exhibition of works |
Selected Solo Exhibitions
| 2020 | Frank Auerbach: Selected Works, 1978-2016, Luhring Augustine, New York, NY, USA |
| 2019 | Frank Auerbach: From Drawing to Painting, Alma Zevi, Venice, Italy |
| 2018 | Frank Auerbach: Landscapes and Portraits, Timothy Taylor, New York, NY, USA |
| 2015 | Frank Auerbach: Paintings and drawings from the Lucian Freud estate, Tate Britain, London, UK |
| Frank Auerbach, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany | |
| Frank Auerbach, Marlborough, London, UK | |
| 2014 | Frank Auerbach, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK |
| 2013 | Frank Auerbach: Portraits, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong |
| 2012 | Frank Auerbach, Early Works 1954 – 1978, Offer Waterman Gallery, London UK |
| 2009 | Frank Auerbach: London Building Sites 1952-62, The Courtauld Gallery, London, UK |
| 2007 | Frank Auerbach: Etchings and Drypoints 1954-2006, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK |
| 2001 | Frank Auerbach, Paintings and Drawings 1954-2001, Royal Academy of Art, London, UK |
| 1997 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Arts, London, UK |
| 1996 | Frank Auerbach, Rex Irwin, Sydney, Australia |
| 1995 | Frank Auerbach, Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA |
| 1994 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 1991 | Frank Auerbach, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, USA |
| 1990 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Art, London, UK |
| Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Graphics, London, UK | |
| 1989 | Frank Auerbach, Rijksmuseum Vincent Van Gogh, Amsterdam, Holland |
| 1987 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Art, London, UK |
| 1986-87 | Frank Auerbach, Kunstverein, Hamburg, Germany / Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany / Centro Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain |
| 1986 | Frank Auerbach, British Pavilion, XLII Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy |
| 1983 | Frank Auerbach, Anne Berthoud Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Art, New York, NY, USA | |
| 1982 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 1979 | Frank Auerbach, Bernard Jacobson, New York, NY, USA |
| 1978 | Frank Auerbach: Retrospective, Hayward Gallery, London, UK / Fruit Market Gallery, Edinburgh, UK |
| Frank Auerbach, Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, UK | |
| 1976 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland |
| 1975 | Frank Auerbach, Municipal Art Gallery, London, UK |
| 1974 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Art, London, UK |
| 1973 | Frank Auerbach, University of Essex, Colchester, UK |
| 1972 | Frank Auerbach, Galleria Bergamini, Milan, Italy |
| Frank Auerbach, Villiers Fine Art, Sydney, Australia | |
| 1971 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Art, London, UK |
| 1969 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
| 1967 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Art, London, UK |
| 1965 | Frank Auerbach, Marlborough Fine Art, London, UK |
| 1961-63 | Frank Auerbach, Beaux Arts Gallery, London, UK |
| 1959 | Frank Auerbach, Beaux Arts Gallery, London, UK |
| 1957 | Frank Auerbach, Beaux Arts Gallery, London, UK |
| 1956 | Frank Auerbach, Beaux Arts Gallery, London, UK |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2021-2022 | Drawings & Works on Paper, Ben Hunter, London, UK |
| 2021 | Frank Auerbach & Tony Bevan: What is a Head?, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong |
| The Human Touch: Making Art, Leaving Traces, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK | |
| 2020-2021 | Nahem Shoa: Face of Britain, Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton, UK |
The Artful Line: Drawings from the Harris Collection and The Courtauld Gallery, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK | |
| 2020 | Frank Auerbach, Lucian Freud and Paula Rego: Prints, Galerie Jahn and Jahn, Munich, Germany |
| 2019 | Thoughts on Portraiture, Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham Museums, Birmingham, UK |
| 2018 | Frank Auerbach & Lucian Freud: Faces, Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany |
| All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life, Tate Britain, London, UK | |
| 2017 | The Beginning of Everything: Drawings from the Janie C. Lee, Louisa Stude Sarofim and David Whitney Collections, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, USA |
| Bacon, Freud and the School of London, Museo Picasso Málaga, Malaga, Spain | |
| To Be Human, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK | |
| 2016 | Unexpected: Continuing Narratives of Identity and Migration, Ben Uri Gallery & Museum |
| Landscapes of Pleasure, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia | |
| 2015 | Rose Projects 1C: Painting Blind, The Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA, USA |
| 2014 | Somewhat Abstract, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK |
| Group Exhibition, Galería Marlborough, Barcelona, Spain | |
| 2013 | Rembrandt - Auerbach: Raw Truth, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Holland |
| Painting I - Eclectic Affinities, Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece | |
| 2008 | Modern and Contemporary Prints, Osbourne Samuel, London, UK |
| The Invisible Collection, Ava Gallery, Bangor, Northern Ireland | |
| 2007 | A Tribute to Colin St John Wilson, James Hyman Gallery, London |
| 2006 | Building Sites - Auerbach, Bevan, Chamberlain, Johnson, James Hyman Gallery, London, UK |
| Portraits, James Hyman Gallery, London, UK | |
| 2005 | Fifty Years of British Landscape Painting, James Hyman Gallery, London, UK |
| 2004 | The Challenge of Post War Painting, James Hyman Gallery, London, UK |
| 2003 | Life: Andrews, Auerbach, Bevan, Bomberg, Coldstream, Kossoff, Sickert, Uglow, James Hyman Gallery, London, UK |
| 2002 | Twentieth Century British paintings and drawings, James Hyman Gallery, London, UK |
| British and American Art, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, UK | |
| 2000 | Auerbach, Bacon, Freud, Kossoff, James Hyman Gallery, London, UK |
| 1999 | School of London, KunstHaus Wien, Vienna, Austria |
| 1998 | L'École de Londres, Musée Maillol, Fondation Dina Vierny, Paris, France |
| 1995 | Working After the Masters, National Gallery, London, UK |
| 1981 | New Spirit in Painting, Royal Academy of Art, London, UK |
Selected Public and Private Collections
| Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast, Ireland |
| Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK |
| Arts Council of Great Britain, London, UK |
| British Council, London, UK |
| British Museum, London, UK |
| Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Norwich, UK |
| Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford, UK |
| Cleethorpes Art Association, Lincolnshire, UK |
| Contemporary Art Society, London, UK |
| Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, UK |
| Government Picture Collection, London, UK |
| Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, UK |
| Hartlepool Museum, Hartlepool, UK |
| Huddersfield Art Gallery, Yorkshire, UK |
| Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds, UK |
| Middlesborough Art Gallery, Middlesborough, UK |
| National Portrait Gallery, London, UK |
| Nottingham Art Gallery, Nottingham, UK |
| Oldham Art Gallery, Oldham, UK |
| Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK |
| Rochdale Art Gallery, Rochdale, UK |
| Royal College of Art, London, UK |
| Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, London, UK |
| Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK |
| Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton, UK |
| Tate Collection, London, UK |
| Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK |
| Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK |
| Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA |
| Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, USA |
| Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA |
| McMaster Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY, USA |
| Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico |
| Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA |
| Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO, USA |
| University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA |
| Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, USA |
| Museo de Arte Moderna de Bahia, Salvador, Brazil |
| Art Gallery of South Wales, Sydney |
| Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide |
| Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth |
| National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
| National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest, Melbourne |
| National Gallery of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa |
| Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel |
Selected Publications
| 2015 | Clark, T.J. and Lampert, Catherine, Frank Auerbach, Tate Publishing |
| Lampert, Catherine, Frank Auerbach: Speaking and Painting, Thames and Hudson | |
| 2009 | Fever, William, Frank Auerbach, Rizzoli International Publications |
| 2003 | Hyman, James 'From Tragedy to Joie de Vivre: Some Thoughts on the Work of Bacon, Freud, Kossoff and Auerbach', exhibition catalogue, Bacon, Freud, Kossoff, Auerbach, Galerie Sander, Berlin |
| Hyman, J., 'Radical Figuration', From Life, exhibition catalogue, James Hyman Fine Art | |
| 2001 | Hyman, James, The Battle for Realism, Yale University Press |
| 2000 | Hyman, James, exhibition catalogue, Auerbach, Bacon, Freud, Kossoff |
| 1998 | Peppiart, Michael, 'Frank Auerbach' (interview), no. 14 |
| Peppiart, Michael, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach: Recent Works, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Gallery New York | |
| 1995 | Baker, Kenneth, 'Auerbach Paintings Probe the of Seeing Art', San Francisco Chronicle |
| Wiggins, Colin, Frank Auerbach at the National Gallery: Working after the Masters, exhibition catalogue, Nation London | |
| 1994 | Ackroyd, Peter, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach Works, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Gallery, New York |
| Hyman, James, 'Presences And Spectral Traces: Glenn Brown And Frank Auerbach', Galleries | |
| 1992 | Hartley, Craig, 'Freud and Auerbach: Recent Work' Print Quarterly, vol. IX, no. 1 |
| Hughes, Robert, Frank Auerbach, London (reprint) | |
| Hyman, James, British Figurative Painting of the 20th century, exhibition catalogue, British Council | |
| 1990 | Gayford, Martin, 'When Quality Shines through Novelty', Sunday Telegraph |
| Gooding, Mel, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach: Recent Work, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Fine Art, London | |
| Hughes, Robert, 'The Art of Frank Auerbach' New York Review of Books, vol. XXXVI | |
| Hughes, Robert, Frank Auerbach, London (first paperback edition) | |
| Hughes, Robert, 'Private View', Telegraph Magazine | |
| Hyman, James, 'Auerbach', Art Newspaper | |
| Hyman, James, 'Auerbach', Connaissance des Arts | |
| Wiggins, Colin, Frank Auerbach and the Old Masters', Modern Painters, vol. 3, no. 3 | |
| 1989 | Gooding, Mel, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach: Recent Work, exhibition catalogue, Rijksmuseum Vincent Van Gogh, Amsterdam |
| Hicks, Alistair, The School of London: The Resurgence of Contemporary Painting, Oxford | |
| 1988 | Cork, Richard, 'Frank Auerbach: An Interview by Richard Cork', Art & Design, vol. 4, nos 9 and 10 |
| Peppiart, Michael, 'Artist's Dialogue: Frank Auerbach Topographies of Color', Architectural Digest | |
| 1987 | 'Frank Auerbach' (interview), in Bamboo, vol. 14 |
| The British Council, From London: Bacon, Freud, Kossoff, Andrews, Auerbach, Kitaj, exhibition catalogue | |
| Feaver, William, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach: Recent Paintings and Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Fine Art, London | |
| Packer, William, 'In Praise of Frank Auerbach', Financial Times | |
| Peppiart, Michael, 'Frank Auerbach Going Against the Grain' (interview), Art International | |
| Winter, Peter, 'Frank Auerbach', Das Kunstwerk, Stuttgart | |
| 1986 | Bonaventura, Paul, 'Annaherung an Frank Auerbach', in Frank Auerbach, exhibition catalogue, Kunstverein, Hamburg and Metropolis M |
| Bumpus, Judith, 'Frank Auerbach' (interview), Art & Artists, June | |
| Flacke-Knoch, Monika, 'Frank Auerbach: Hamburger Kunstverein', Die Kunst, no. 11, Munich | |
| Lampert, Catherine, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach, exhibition catalogue, XLII Venice Biennale | |
| Lessore, Helen, A Partial Testament: Essays on Some Moderns in the Great Tradition, London | |
| Marks, Laurence, 'Painting from a Distance', Observer | |
| 'Saturday Review: Frank Auerbach at the Venice Biennale', BBC 2 television broadcast | |
| Winter, Peter, 'Gesichter aus Lava and Lehm', Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung | |
| 1985 | Cork, Richard, 'In Pursuit of Change', Frank Auerbach in conversation, BBC Radio 3, recorded 1 October 1985 and broadcast 18 November 1985 |
| 1983 | Cork, Richard, 'Battleground in Camden Town', Standard |
| 1982 | Spender, Stephen, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach: Recent Paintings and Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Gallery, New York |
| 1981 | Auerbach, Frank, Foreword, in Late Sickert: Paintings from 1927-1942, exhibition catalogue, Hayward Gallery, London |
| Gowing, Lawrence, Introduction, in Eight Figurative Painters, exhibition catalogue, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven | |
| 1980 | Wiggins, Colin, 'Frank Auerbach', Artscribe, no. 22 |
| 1978 | Daley, Janet, 'Bacon, Auerbach, Freud', Arts Review |
| Bernard, Bruce, 'Frank Auerbach: Painter in the Grand Manner', Sunday Times Magazine | |
| Kossoff, Leon, 'The Paintings of Frank Auerbach', in Frank Auerbach, exhibition catalogue, Hayward Gallery, London | |
| Lampert, Catherine, 'A Conversation with Frank Auerbach' (interview), in Frank Auerbach, exhibition catalogue, Hayward Gallery, London | |
| Podro, Michael, 'The Sense of Composure', Times Literary Supplement | |
| 1976 | Feaver, William, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach: Paintings and Drawings 1954-1976, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Galerie, Zurich |
| 1973 | Wollheim, Richard, 'Titian and Auerbach', The Listene |
| 1969 | Podro, Michael, Introduction, in Frank Auerbach, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York |
| 1968 | Forge, Andrew, Introduction, in Helen Lessore and the Beaux Arts Gallery, exhibition catalogue, Marlborough Fine Art, London |
| 1965 | Russell, John and Robertson, Bryan, Private View. The Lively World of British Art, with photographs by Lord Snowdon |
| 1963 | Forge, Andrew, 'Auerbach and Paolozzi', New Statesman |
| 1961 | Spender, Stephen, 'Mr. Auerbach's Latest Painting' (letter to the editor), The Listener |
| Sylvester, David, 'Nameless Structures', New Statesman | |
| 1960 | Berger, John, Permanent Red, London |
| 1959 | Berger, John, 'A Stick in the Dark', New Statesman |
| Thompson, David, 'Mr. Frank Auerbach's One-Man Show: Painter to Be Reckoned with Now', The Times | |
| 1958 | Auerbach, Frank, 'Seven Portraits', ARK, 23, 1958 |
| Read, Herbert 'British Art', in Art Since 1945, New York and London | |
| 1956 | Lessore, Helen, 'Mr. Frank Auerbach's Paintings' (letter to the editor), The Times |
| Russell, John, 'Colourmen', Sunday Times | |
| Sylvester, David, 'Young English Painting', The Listener |
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