The Jewish painter Frank Auerbach escaped the Holocaust as a child in England. Last year, he died in London at the age of 93. Now, for the first time, there is an exhibition in his birthplace, Berlin.
The painter Frank Auerbach, born in Berlin in 1931, is regarded alongside Lucian Freud as one of the most influential British artists of his generation. He grew up at Güntzelstraße 49, where today two Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) commemorate his parents, Charlotte and Max. In 1938, he was sent to a school in England as a precaution, which ultimately saved him from the Holocaust. On May 2, the third-ever exhibition of Frank Auerbach’s works in Germany will open at Michael Werner Gallery. Last year, the painter had finally been ready to visit his hometown again — but it was not to be. Frank Auerbach passed away on November 11, 2024, in London, at the age of 93.
On the occasion of the Berlin exhibition, we spoke with his biographer.
