London's Courtauld Gallery opens exhibition of Frank Auerbach's drawings

The exhibition "Frank Auerbach: Coalheads", which opened at the Courtauld Gallery, will give a unique opportunity to see the early masterpieces of one of the most famous living artists in the world and will last until May 27, Azernews reports, citing foreign media.

Wonderful series of 23 fascinatingly beautiful, large-scale drawings by Frank Auerbach is presented for the first time.

The artists of the so-called "London school" remain perhaps the biggest attraction in British art. These post-war alpha singles (Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Frank Auerbach and others) experienced a decline in popularity in the sixties. But since they were revived in the 1970s, their status as British modern craftsmen has continued to grow to the point of recognition of high craftsmanship.

While some will question their relevance in these hyper-digital, identity-obsessed times, even the most inveterate cynic cannot fail to pay tribute to Frank Auerbach, the last living member of the original core group, for his absolute dedication to his art. At 92, he still works day in and day out. Indeed, although it is often said that the art of the
"London school" has never escaped the gloomy atmosphere of the attic of the austerity era, Auerbach still works in the same studio in Camden Town, which he has occupied since the 1950s.

The exhibition "Frank Auerbach: Coal Heads" will be the first time when Auerbach's unusual post-war drawings, made in the 1950s and early 1960s, will be combined into a single group. These are absolutely iconic works of that post-war period, with that sense of monastic, even desperate devotion to the painted human image, which is a hallmark of the best school of London art.