AUERBACH Frank Helmuth 1931-2024

Painter, born in Berlin, Germany and sent to England as a child in 1939. He never saw his family again, they were killed by the Nazis. His original ambition was to become an actor, but after attending art classes at Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute and then the Borough Polytechnic, he responded positively to the teaching of David Bomberg. He later attended St. Martin's School of Art, 1948-52 and RCA 1952-55. An early exhibitor with the Young Contemporaries, in 1956 Auerbach held his first solo exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery and in 1978 he was accorded a major retrospective by the ACGB. A member of the School of London, in 1986 he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and is himself represented by Marlborough Fine Art, London. He was also shown by the Saatchi Gallery in 1989 alongside his peers, Lucian Freud, Leon Kossof and Howard Hodgkin.

His works are to be found in the major art galleries of the world including Aberdeen Art Gallery, ACGB, BC, Ben Uri, Courtauld Institute, Ferens Art Gallery, Fitzwilliam Museum, Hartlepool Art Gallery, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Laing Art Gallery, Lakeland Arts Trust, Leeds City Art Gallery, Leicester Arts and Museums Service, Middlesbrough Art Gallery, Northampton Museum and Art Gallery, NMW, Oldham Art Gallery, Pallant House Gallery, Rochdale Art Gallery, Sheffield Art Gallery, Southampton Art Gallery, Yale Center for British Art and the Tate Gallery. Auerbach is regarded as one of Britain's most important late-twentieth-century painters.