Frank Auerbach: The Charcoal Heads

9 Feb – 27 May 2024
Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries

A remarkable series of hauntingly beautiful, large-scale drawings by Frank Auerbach (born 1931), will be presented together for the first time at The Courtauld Gallery in Spring 2024.

During his early years as a young artist in post-war London, Frank Auerbach produced one of his most remarkable bodies of work: a series of large-scale portrait heads made in charcoal. Auerbach spent months on each drawing, working and reworking them during numerous sessions with his sitters.

The marks of this prolonged and vigorous process of creation are evident in the finished drawings, which are richly textured and layered. Sometimes, he would even break through the paper and patch it up before carrying on. Auerbach51��ݶ� heads emerge from the darkness of the charcoal as vital and alive, having come through a lengthy period of struggle – the image repeatedly created and destroyed. The character of the drawings speaks profoundly of their times as people were remaking their lives after the destructions and upending of war.

Frank Auerbach: The Charcoal Heads will be the first time Auerbach51��ݶ� extraordinary post-war drawings, made in the 1950s and early 1960s, have been brought together as a comprehensive group. They will be shown together with a selection of paintings he made of the same sitters; for him, painting and drawing have always been deeply entwined.

The exhibition will be a unique opportunity to see early masterpieces by one of the world51��ݶ� most celebrated living artists.

Supported by the Huo Family Foundation and The Garcia Family Foundation.

Tickets from £14. Includes entry to the permanent collection and displays.
Friends go free. Other concessions available.

9 Feb – 27 May 2024

10.00 – 18.00 (last entry 17.15)

The Courtauld Gallery The Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries

Tickets from £14. Includes entry to the permanent collection.

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Exhibition The Courtauld Gallery What's On Highlights

Highlights

Charcoal drawing of a man, Frank Auerbach, sitting slightly side-on to the viewer and staring at us with a stern expression. The background is roughly completed, and the face somewhat fragmented by the background. — Frank Auerbach (b.1931), Self-Portrait, 1958, charcoal and chalk on paper, private collection © the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London.

A black and white charcoal and chalk portrait of a woman — Frank Auerbach (b.1931), Head of Julia II, 1960, charcoal and chalk on paper, private collection © the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London

A black and white charcoal portrait of a woman — Frank Auerbach (b.1931), Head of Gerda Boehm, 1961, charcoal and chalk on paper, private collection, courtesy of Eykyn Maclean © the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London

A charcoal black and white drawing of a man — Frank Auerbach (b.1931), Head of EOW, 1960, charcoal and chalk on paper, The Whitworth, The University of Manchester © the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London

The Courtauld Lates: Frank Auerbach

Fri 9 Feb 2024, 18:30 – 22:30

Enjoy an evening of world-class art, cocktails, music, and performances surrounded by The Courtauld51��ݶ� collection of masterpieces. Join us to experience Frank Auerbach – The Charcoal Heads after hours, plus live DJ’s and more.

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