Frank Auerbach
Frank Auerbach (b. 1931)
Frank Auerbach is one of the greatest painters working in post-war Britain. He moved to Britain from Germany as a schoolboy immediately before the outbreak of the Second World War, and subsequently settled. Though he received his formal training at the Royal College of Art, along with his friend and contemporary Leon Kossoff, he was profoundly influenced by the teaching of David Bomberg. Both Auerbach and Kossoff attended Bomberg's evening classes at the Borough Polytechnic between 1950 and 1954.
His first solo exhibitions were held at Helen Lessore's Beaux Arts Gallery, a dynamic if economically unsound enterprise which eventually closed in 1965. Auerbach subsequently went on to exhibit with Marlborough Fine Art, where he was in the company of his close friend Lucian Freud. Like Freud, Auerbach is noted for his exacting technique, a habit of scraping away the paint, the intensive scrutiny of his sitters, and a regular pattern of work. It is often remarked that he does not take holidays, preferring to work all year round, thus imposing on his regular sitters - including Catherine Lampert, William Feaver and his son, Jake - an austere programme of modelling.
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London Art Fair
Business Design Centre, N1 0QH 17 - 21 Jan 2024 Art FairFor the London Art Fair, Piano Nobile exhibited a range of works by leading twentieth-century British artists. Highlights included Augustus John, Barbara Hepworth, Frank Auerbach, R.B. Kitaj, Eduardo Paolozzi, Craigie...Read more -
The Treasure House Fair
Royal Hospital Chelsea 22 - 26 Jun 2023 Art FairThe Treasure House Fair is a celebration of outstanding and rare art and antiques. Held at The Royal Hospital Chelsea the fair continues the tradition of its predecessors, Masterpiece...Read more -
British Art Fair
Saatchi Gallery 29 Sep - 2 Oct 2022 Art FairStaged at the notorious Saatchi Gallery, the British Art Fair offers an unrivalled opportunity to view modern and contemporary British Art. For 2022, Piano Nobile's display included a range of...Read more -
Frank Auerbach
The Sitters 23 Sep - 16 Dec 2022 Piano NobileFrank Auerbach: The Sitters was the first dedicated overview of the artist's portrait heads. Including over forty paintings and drawings, the exhibition explored the special connection between Auerbach and his...Read more -
Masterpiece
Online Viewing Room 23 - 27 Jun 2021Piano Nobile is pleased to be participating in Masterpiece Online 2021. A selection of outstanding work by twentieth-century British artists will be highlighted, including paintings, sculpture and drawings by Leon...Read more -
Defining British Art
1910 - 2000 17 May - 23 Jul 2021Piano Nobile is pleased to present ninety years of British art. This exhibition reviews the major creative outbursts in twentieth-century Britain, with paintings, sculptures, ceramics and textiles made by four...Read more -
Masterpiece
Online Viewing Room 22 - 28 Jun 2020Highlights from our online display included work by Ben and Winifred Nicholson, William Turnbull, Leon Kossoff, Frank Auerbach, William Crozier, David Bomberg, Lucian Freud and Barbara Hepworth . Also on...Read more -
Craigie Aitchison
And the Beaux Arts Generation 14 Nov 2019 - 29 Jan 2020 Piano NobileIt was 1952 when a soft-spoken Scotsman entered the Slade School of Fine Art. Accompanied by his beagle named Somerset, he attended on a part-time basis at first. Few could...Read more
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InSight No. 144
Frank Auerbach | Head of Julia - Profile II March 1, 2024In the art of Frank Auerbach, reassuring continuities—of studios, sitters, idiom—are pitched against the desperate struggle to do it differently each time. InSight No. 144...Read more -
InSight No. 139
Frank Auerbach | Head of Laurie Owen I December 8, 2023Regarding only the appearance and physical presence of his sitters, Frank Auerbach makes pictures of the human head that defy categorisation as portraiture. InSight No....Read more -
Frank Auerbach on the Rise
Melanie Gerlis, The Financial Times December 9, 2022In the weekly Art Market column of the Financial Times, Melanie Gerlis reviews Piano Nobile's exhibition, Frank Auerbach The Sitters describing it as an overview...Read more -
The Asking Price #1
Interview with Matthew Travers November 7, 2022In the inaugral edition of The Asking Price, a new monthly newsletter focused on the monthly art market, Henry Little interviews Matthew Travers. Focused on...Read more -
Frank Auerbach to the Fore
Country Life November 4, 2022In a review of the current art maket published in the November edition of Country Life, Huon Mallalieu describes Frank Auerbach as 'the UK's foremost...Read more -
Walter Sickert: Peindre et Transgresser
Opens at the Petits Palais, Paris October 15, 2022The first museum exhibition of Walter Sickert’s art in Paris has opened at the Petit Palais. Walter Sickert: Peindre et Transgresser has toured from Tate...Read more -
Are you sitting comfortably? Auerbach will begin.
The Art Newspaper October 15, 2022Seb Summers reviews Piano Nobile's Frank Auerbach exhibition in the Frieze Edition of The Art Newspaper. Charting Frank Auerbach's connection with his sitters across more...Read more -
Review of Frank Auerbach | The Sitters
The Oldie September 28, 2022Huon Mallalieu reviews Frank Auerbach The Sitters in the October edition of The Oldie. Describing Auerbach as 'amongst the most significant' of his generation, Mallalieu...Read more -
‘Admiring oneself is such a waste of energy’: British art’s great survivor Frank Auerbach
The Daily Telegraph September 27, 2022Alastair Sooke, Chief Art Critic of The Daily Telegraph, r eviews Frank Auerbach The Sitters alongisde a comprehensive interview with the artist. In his article...Read more -
InSight No. 110
Frank Auerbach | Reclining Head of Julia September 26, 2022To mark the opening of Piano Nobile’s exhibition Frank Auerbach: The Sitters, InSight considers the recent work of Britain’s greatest living painter. A remarkable thread...Read more -
Auerbach: his models in focus
Antiques Trade Gazette September 3, 2022Gabriel Berner reviews Frank Auerbach The Sitters in the September edition of The Antiques Trade Gazette. In reference to the exhibition the article explores the...Read more -
A Long Look
Camden New Journal September 1, 2022Alongisde a review of Tate Britain's Walter Sickert exhibition John Evans of the Camden New Journal anticipates Piano Nobile's autumn Frank Auerbach exhibition.Read more -
InSight No. 79
Frank Auerbach | Reclining Nude, 1954 September 1, 2021Though Frank Auerbach received his formal training at St Martin's School of Art, the evening classes of David Bomberg which he attended were of much...Read more -
Light Relief: Could New Technology Avert the Need for Conservation?
The Art Newspaper January 30, 2020Piano Nobile has been featured in The Art Newspaper for February 2020. In her article, Light relief: could new technology avert the need for conservation?,...Read more -
Craigie Aitchison and the Beaux Arts Generation in The Daily Telegraph
Colin Gleadell November 19, 2019Piano Nobile's autumn exhibition, Craigie Aitchison and the Beaux Arts Generation, has been covered in the art market column of The Daily Telegraph. Writing on...Read more -
ES Magazine features Craigie Aitchison and the Beaux Arts Generation
November 15, 2019ES Magazine has featured Piano Nobile's new exhibition CRAIGIE AITCHISON and THE BEAUX ARTS GENERATION. The magazine is the weekly cultural supplement of The Evening...Read more -
Final month for Frank Auerbach exhibition at Tate Britain
London February 9, 2016Tate's Britain's major retrospective exhibition of British painter Frank Auerbach is in its final month.Read more