Frank Auerbach
1957
Charcoal and chalk on paper
80 x 58.4 cm
Stella West (identified by her initials, E.O.W.) was Frank Auerbach’s most enduring sitter of the period. By 1960, Auerbach had achieved his ambition to complete ten portrait heads of her in charcoal. The final four are presented on this wall. Each offers a subtly different sense of character and atmosphere. In this work, torn and patched areas are present across the whole sheet, the result of Auerbach’s vigorous reworkings. From these, West emerges stoic but somewhat melancholy. In the lower left corner, Auerbach added the notation ‘Feb–April 1957’, indicating the work took three months of sittings.
Private collection
© the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London