Head of E.O.W.

Frank Auerbach

1956

Charcoal and chalk on paper

76.2 x 55.9 cm

This is one of the first large charcoal drawings Frank Auerbach made of Stella West. She sat for him in the bedroom of her house on Earl’s Court Road in London. Auerbach kneeled on the floor to work, his drawing board propped on a chair.
The sessions stretched into the night, every work taking months. He erased the drawing after each attempt and drew again on the same sheet at the next sitting. Here, the paper has broken through and been patched as Auerbach drew
relentlessly. He wanted to make drawings with a comparable power and impact to his paintings.

British Museum, London

Accepted in lieu of inheritance tax by HM Government and allocated to the British Museum, 2015

© the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London