Frank Auerbach

Marlborough Fine Art, London
Erich Sommer
His sale, Christie's London, 10th June 2005, lot 102, where acquired by the present owner

London, Marlborough Fine Art, Frank Auerbach, January 1971, cat. no.6;
Hamburg, Kunstverein, Frank Auerbach, 18th October - 23rd November 1986, cat. no.6, illustrated, where lent by Erich Sommer, with tour to Museum Folkwang, Essen and Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.

William Feaver, Frank Auerbach, Rizzoli, London 2009, cat. no.237, illustrated p.263.

The present condition report has been prepared by Hamish Dewar, Fine Art Conservation, 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, Duke Street, St James's London, SW17 6BU. The painting is structurally sound and secure and the heavily impastoed and textured surface is stable. Paint Surface: The paint surface was examined under ultra-violet light and the following retouchings were identified: a thin vertical line, approximately 5cm. in length, in the central yellow band of colour in the middle of the composition. This thin line of inpainting is approximately 28cm. from the right vertical framing edge. Three other thin lines between the above retouching and the right vertical framin edge, which are approximately 2, 3, and 4cm. in length. A very small area on a thickly impastoed brush stroke which is approximately 8cm. from the left vertical edge, and other very small retouchings in the corners. An area measuring approximately 1.5 x 1cm. in the red/brown pigments in the foreground of the composition, approximately 12cm. above the lower horizontal framing edge, and other very small retouchings in the corners. Summary: The paintings therefore appears to be in good condition with small, scattered retouchings. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present lot.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Following the death of Frederick Lessore, the running of the Beaux Arts Gallery, London, passed to his wife  Helen in 1951. It was through Auerbach's association with the assured and independent Lessore that he first came to fully recognise and appreciate the contextual worth of Sickert’s dark and brooding Camden Town interiors.  Drawing inspiration from these reclining nudes, especially in regards to their positioning within the compositional construction, the motif was well established by the mid-1960s, with earlier earthy tones replaced by a more immediate visual intensity.  Alongside these brighter, bolder colours so too did Auerbach’s structural composition alter, pared down with bold, angular lines, clearly displayed in the present work. As the critic Colin Wiggins notes of these series of figures on a bed, ‘Auerbach treats the space, the bed and the figure with an equal intensity’ (quoted in Robert Hughes, Frank Auerbach, Thames and Hudson, London, 1990, p.165), with bold, match-stick strokes making up the figure which lies in a semi-foetal position on top of the rich Veronese green.  In the central band the artist uses strong yellow brushstrokes that carry with them a visceral intensity well balanced by the sedate, earthy red below.  Working alongside the bright, electric colours, the attractive overall pattern serves to create an image at once recognisable of the artist’s output during this period.