29/08/2001
by Andrew Moore

The Royal Academy of Arts, London will from September the 14^th to December the 12^th, launch "Frank Auerbach: Paintings and Drawings: 1954 - 2001", the first major retrospective of the artist’s work since 1978, including over 100 paintings and large-scale drawings. With over 30 one-man exhibitions under his belt, Auerbach also represented the UK at the Venice Biennale in 1986. Born of Jewish parentage in Berlin in 1931, he was sent to England at the age of eight. The Auerbach oeuvre is a straight split between portraits and cityscapes, but despite this clear division, his heavily loaded paint studies create compositions which are hard to distinguish, with forms merging into rigid lines of coloured impasto. Although Auerbach's portraits of close friends are typically signed with their initials, this only adds to the dehumanised nature of his figure studies: J.J.W., S.A.W., E.O.W. (real name Stella West) and J.Y.M. (Juliet Yardley Mills). Less common are full name inscriptions such as David Landau, Gerda Boehm, Catherine Lampert and Ruth Bromberg who all sat for Auerbach.

The record price for an Auerbach was recorded in 1998 when an oil on canvas dating from 1954, entitled EOW nude measuring 62.2 x 76.8 cm greatly exceeded its estimate of $ 100,500-150,750 (113,490-170,240) to sell for $ 1.13 million (€ 1.27 million) at Christie’s, London. Yet is his cityscapes of north London, seen from two or three locations in the immediate vicinity of his studio, which comprise the remaining nine of his top-ten best sellers, following the sale of E.O.W nude. The second highest selling work is Rebuilding the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square, an oil on board dating from 1962 which sold for $ 314,271 (€ 354,960) at Sotheby’s, London in 1998, within its estimate. The other top-ten sellers, all being London scenes are: Leicester Square, two views of Mornington Crescent, Railway Station Bethnal Green, Primrose Hill and Camden Town which were all bought at auction in the British capital from 1991-2001, ranging in hammer prices from $ 230,000-320,000 (€ 260,000-361,380). Scenes of the artist’s hometown sell well because his buyers are local. One of his Mornington Crescent scenes was, until recently, hanging pride of place at British Government offices in New York. However auction sales would suggest that Americans have no great desire for Auerbach’s scenes of north London building-sites. His market is steadfastly domestic.

Prices have stayed consistent at auction (as shown by the Gabrius data bank graph) with a devout Auerbach following. Strong sales were recorded in 1991 and 1992 at the height of the UK art market recession. More typical for Auerbach’s prices at auction are quotes ranging from $ 20,000-40,000 (€ 22,600-45,190) for small sized oils. A recent example being a hammer price of $ 31,770 for Reclining figure on a bed, an oil on panel, measuring 29 x 32.5 cm, selling within estimate.

Another example, The Chimney, Mornington Cresent, an oil on canvas measuring 56 x 46.3 cm sold for $ 53,071 (€ 60,000) within its estimate at Christie’s, London in June 2000. The same work had been offered the previous summer at Christie’s, London with a higher estimate of $ 64,300-86,300 (€ 72,650-97,500), where it was unsold. A preparatory drawing for the same work, executed with felt tip and coloured crayon, was sold for $ 2,384 (€ 2,690) just over its bottom end estimate at Christie’s, South Kensington, London in November 1998. It too was offered at Christie’s (King Street), London in May 1997 where it was unsold against an estimate of $ 3,265-4,898 (€ 3,700-5,530). This minor flux in sales of his many preparatory drawings and prints indicates that this end of the market is steady.

Larger pieces from the 1950’s to the 1980’s are for the moment valued around $ 100,000-150,000 (€ 113,000-170,000). The EOW nude had such a pre-sale estimate. However the unexpected hammer price may see an upward revision of prices for the artist, coupled with the coming exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London in September 2001. This optimism should be tempered by the fact that no work superseded this price in the following three years, with hammer prices staying level with pre-1998 levels. New works (which appeared in the artist’s one-man show at Marlborough London and New York in 1997 and 1998) have given way to more vivid colours and a lighter palette, although the subjects continue to be of street scenes in north London and portraits of friends. Retail prices for these pieces are expected to stay in line with market values for the time being, but the likelihood is that Auerbach’s market may soon reach the heights of his "London school" contemporary, the late Francis Bacon, before long.