Frank Auerbach
Frank Auerbach, who was born in Berlin in 1931 and has been living in Great Britain since 1939, numbers with Francis Bacon (1909–1992) and Lucian Freud (1922–2011) among the major painters of the School of London which, in spite of all the differences between its protagonists, can be characterized by an expressive-figurative pictorial language. In opposition to the modernist dogma of abstraction, Auerbach in particular adheres to an investigation of reality whose depiction does not simply devolve to the artist but must be achieved through extended labor.
A “continental” style
As a child, Auerbach just barely escaped the Holocaust to which his parents fell victim. In England, he found a second home where he developed a style reminiscent of Rembrandt and Expressionism which could almost be called “continental.” Only in middle age did he experience a wider reception, evident among other things in his being awarded the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennial in 1986. In Germany, however, his works weren’t on display for a long time. The last extensive exhibition (at the Kunstverein in Hamburg and Museum Folkwang Essen) took place almost 30 years ago — a reception deficit that Kunstmuseum Bonn now intends to remedy through a large survey exhibition.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
Admission: Adults 7 Euros, reduced fee 3.50 Euros; groups from 10 persons 5.60 Euros, reduced fee 2.80 Euros; family ticket 14 Euros; free admission for children up to the age of 12, for school classes and members of the Museumsverein.