Frank Auerbach

Gifted by the Artist to JYM, and thence by descent to the present owner

The following condition report has been kindly prepared by Hamish Dewar, 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, St Jame's, London, SW1Y 6BU. Structural condition: The artist's board has been nailed by the artist through the paint film at the extreme edges of the composition to a secondary support. This is safely housed in a glazed frame. The secondary support is painted and has been inscribed by the artist on the reverse. Paint Surface: The paint surface appears to have a thin varnish layer. There is evidence of surface dirt most notably in the areas of white pigment and the painting should respond well to surface cleaning. There are some very fine lines of craquelure corresponding to where the artist's board has been nailed to the secondary support at the centre of the lower edge, and in the upper right corner. These appear stable. I inspected the painting in the frame and therefore through the glazing and found no evidence of any retouching under ultra-violet light. Summary: The painting would therefore appear to be in very good condition and would benefit from surface cleaning.
"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."

We are grateful to William Feaver for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

‘If E.O.W. was a magnetic force, J.Y.M. by contrast was a force of nature, adaptable, optimistic and uncomplaining’ (Catherine Lampert, ‘Auerbach and His Sitters,’ Frank Auerbach: Paintings and Drawings 1954-2001, (exh. cat.), London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2001, p.26.).

Throughout his career Auerbach has pursued the same subjects, close friends and admirers of his work, and none more so than Juliet Yardley Mills. An artist herself, she first posed for him in 1956 when she was a professional model at Sidcup College of Art, and continued to do so until her final appearance in Head of JYM III (1997, Private Collection) at the age of eighty. Catherine Lampert, who has sat for Auerbach since 1978, has accounted that JYM became the first regular sitter at the artist’s Camden studio, where he had moved in 1954.

The task of sitting for Auerbach was no easy feat. JYM arrived every Wednesday and Sunday having taken two buses from her home in southeast London and would sustain awkward poses for four hours or more. The two formed a close attachment throughout this forty year working relationship, which the current painting, a gift from Auerbach to JYM, bears testament to. As JYM later described after her retirement from sitting: ‘We had a wonderful relationship because I thought the world of him and he was very fond of me. There was no sort of romance but we were very close. Real friends. Sundays now I’m always miserable’ (quoted in Frank Auerbach: Paintings and Drawings, op. cit., pp.26-7).  

JYM Seated was painted and gifted to JYM during a transitional period for the artist - following the closure of the Beaux Arts Gallery, run by the legendary gallerist Helen Lessore, who gave the artist his first show in 1956, and before the Marlborough Gallery started documenting his work. The painting bears witness to Auerbach’s masterful handling of paint application and structural composition. Amid swathes of dramatic brushwork and sculptural surface reworked time and time again, the tangible intensity of Auerbach’s subject materialises. The colour palette is reduced - swirls of white, greeny blue, tan and a single bold daub of red articulate the pose of the figure. JYM sits upright in the chair, the sharp angles of her thrust up knees and the diagonal line of her back delineated by slashes of blue. The immediate force and vigour of execution of the present work demonstrates Auerbach's intimate psychological response to his subjects and further serves as an outstanding exemplification of the emotional dialogue between the artist and one of his longest standing subjects.