British-German painter dies aged 93

November 12

British-German painter dies aged 93

Frank Auerbach, the British-German painter who fled Nazi Germany as a child, has died aged 93, his representatives have announced.

Considered one of the greatest painters of his age, Auerbach died peacefully at his home in London on Monday morning.

Geoffrey Parton, the director of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, said: “We have lost a dear friend and remarkable artist but take comfort knowing his voice will resonate for generations to come.”

Auerbach’s acclaimed career spanned seven decades and his works were displayed at major galleries around the world.

Born in Berlin in 1931, Auerbach came to England in 1939, arriving in London as a refugee from Nazi Germany as one of six children sponsored by the writer Iris Origo.

From 1948 to 1955 he studied at St Martin’s School of Art and the Royal College of Art, London.

Frankie Rossi Art Projects said Auerbach had lived and worked in the same north London studio since 1954, and worked on his art 364 days a year.

His first retrospective exhibition was held at London’s Hayward Gallery in 1978 and Auerbach was awarded the Golden Lion prize at the 1986 Venice Biennale.

Earlier this year, another exhibition of his work, The Charcoal Heads, was staged at the capital’s Courtauld Gallery.

Auerbach was known for his portraiture, along with street scenes of Camden in north London, where he was based.

In its obituary, the Telegraph remembered him as “an artist of remarkable intensity whose use of thick paint gave his work the quality of sculpture”.

“All his work was abstracted reality, with the energy of the artist written across the surface in broad, thick swathes of paint, often applied straight from the tubes.”

He once estimated that 95% of his paint ended up in the bin, and told the Guardian: “I’m trying to find a new way to express something… So I rehearse all the other ways until I surprise myself with something I haven’t previously considered.”

The painter is survived by his son Jacob Auerbach.

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