London calling: painting, Auerbach, Tate Modern

A bit more of England for the winter...
Before Italy in the spring.

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Frank Auerbach

Tate Britain: Exhibition

9 October 2015 – 13 March 2016

For half a century Auerbach has lived and worked in the same part of London, in Camden Town, one of the major subjects of his work. ‘What I wanted to do was to record the life that seemed to me to be passionate and exciting and disappearing all the time.’

Painting 365 days a year, he has continued discarding what he does, scraping back the surface of the canvas to start and re-start the painting process daily, continuing afresh for months or years until the single painting is realised in a matter of hours, having finally surprised him, seeming true and robust.

This part of London is my world. I’ve been wandering around these streets for so long that I’ve become attached to them and as fond of them as people are to their pets
Frank Auerbach

Curator of the exhibition and selector of the last two rooms, Catherine Lampert, has had a long working relationship with Auerbach, and has sat for him in his studio every week for 37 years. This exhibition shows that whilst he continually paints the same sitters and sometimes returns to a particular London location, each painting can be considered for its own merits rather than be judged by style or period.

shocking and brilliant…get smacked in the face by the terrifying glory of the world Auerbach is stunned by every morning, ****
The Guardian

Frank Auerbach’s work emerges in all its rude, raw power in this astonishing new retrospective, ****
The Telegraph

At his best Auerbach is without doubt our greatest living painter because he captures the soul, ****
The Times

This is an excellent exhibition that any fan of painting should visit – a fitting tribute to a world class artist and his significant career, ****
The Londonist

*****
The Evening Standard

A unique exhibition on a unique artist.
HuffPost

****
City Am

Auerbach has won his long tussle with paint and reality, again and again. With this exhibition, he joins the masters.
The Spectator

****
The Independent

Many magnificently memorable images stand up for themselves in this great show
The Financial Times

Frank Auerbach has become our greatest living artist
The Sunday Times