WHAT? Frank Auerbach: The Charcoal Heads 

WHERE? The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R ORN

WHEN? Now until 27th May

WHY GO? For a heady dose of atmosphere.  Intense, ghostly and eerily personal, Auerbach began his charcoal series after a turbulent time in history and their enigmatic mood conveys the confusion of post-war Europe when he began the project.

Auerbach arrived in England from Berlin in 1939 at the age of seven and at sixteen enrolled at art school and is generally considered as a German-British artist. 

Inspired and influenced by his teacher, the avant-garde artist David Bomberg, he was a fellow student of Leon Kossoff who became a lifelong friend and is the subject of three of the most dramatic ‘heads’ on show, worked in 1957.

Along with artists Bacon and Freud, the four dominated the British art scene at the time. 

Experimenting with charcoal and chalk on paper, Auerbach worked and reworked each portrait, starting and finishing so frequently that one pictures the sitters growing heartily bored posing for them. 

 The sitters included his wife Julia and lover Stella West and each portrait took him months to complete.  This powerful exhibition shows 17 charcoal portraits alongside six painted portraits of the same sitter and is a unique opportunity to marvel at them together in one place at the same time.

IN THE KNOW Calling collectors… If you’re a fan and feeling flush, there are 200 new limited-edition Auerbach prints exclusive to The Courtauld, signed and dated by the artist himself up for sale through The Courtauld shop and website. 

Auerbach has inspired a legion of creatives, including the great Irish writer Colm Toibin who has written eloquently for the exhibition catalogue, an art treasure in itself.