Frank Auerbach

Marlborough Fine Art, London
Rex Irwin, Sydney

Sydney, Rex Irwin, Frank Auerbach: Paintings and Drawings, 5th March - 6th April 1996, cat. no.10.

William Feaver, Frank Auerbach, Rizzoli International Publications, New York, cat. no.732, illustrated p.322.

The board is sound and in excellent original condition with strong passages of toothpaste impasto throughout. Under ultraviolet light, there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held in a simple box frame under glass; unexamined out of frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Executed in 1993 - 1994.

Since 1954, Auerbach has worked in the same studio down an alleyway behind Mornington Crescent in Camden, London.  He recently explained, 'Leon [Kossoff] had this studio, and when he got married and his father gave him a flat, he very kindly passed it on to me. I had this long-suffering landlord who let me stay for a tiny rent in premises that the council couldn't possibly have approved, and so I just stayed there and went on working, expecting disaster all the time anyway. Not only did you think that a bomb might drop, but I thought I would run out of paint and that very likely the ceiling would fall on my head. But it was a bracing atmosphere in which to work...' (Auerbach, in conversation with William Feaver, 3^rd October 2007, quoted in Feaver, op.cit., p.233).

In 1977, an impending 'disaster' was the genesis for the series of To the Studios landscapes; Auerbach was faced with the very real possibility of being evicted from his studio and was inspired by the small words painted on the wall by the alleyway directing visitors To the Studios. Like an artist's battlecry, the words are clearly visible in the first works from the series (see Feaver, op.cit., cat. nos.389 and 390, 1977 and later in 1984 – 85, cat.nos. 522 – 527) and more than their literal meaning, are symbolic of Auerbach's urgency to press on, to work, in the face of 'disaster' (the problem was resolved when he was able to buy the studio).

His unerring dedication is exemplified by the daily routine he has followed for over 50 years and begins early; he is always up before 7 and usually goes out to draw locally in the morning. Surrounding the studio in every direction are the subjects that have enticed and fuelled his imagination throughout his career; Primrose Hill, Mornington Crescent, Chalk Farm and Camden Town. He only ever paints in the studio and is usually working simultaneously on a work from each of the genres that he has painted consistently throughout his career, landscape and portrait head. Indeed, his extraordinary ability to develop and redefine the same subjects is demonstrated by the energy of the present work, executed over 15 years after the first in the series. The impasto bursts out of the composition and in taking a slightly higher viewpoint that the first To the Studios, Auerbach draws the viewer directly into the centre of the painting, luring them to the anthropomorphic tentacles of the tree outlined against the sky.