Frank Auerbach – The Charcoal Heads review: 23 drawings, one epic experience

The School of London’s last man standing brings together works from the Fifties that have never been shown together before – and it’s a privilege to see these intense, uncompromising works

Head of EOW, 1956 charcoal (left) and Head of Leon Kossoff, 1956-57, charcoal and chalk on paper. (Private Collection © the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects)

The painters of the so-called School of London remain just about the biggest draw in British art. Not so much a school, more a band of fiercely competitive drinking buddies, these post-war alpha-mavericks (Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach et al) went through a dip in popularity in the Sixties. But since a resurgence in the Seventies, their status as British modern masters has kept on growing to the extent it now feels positively unpatriotic to say a word against them.

While some will question their relevance in our hyper-digital, identity-obsessed times, not even the most hardened cynic could fail to give Frank Auerbach, last man standing of the original core group, respect for his sheer commitment to his art. At 92, he is still working all day, every day. Indeed, if it’s often said that School of London art never quite escapes the gloomy vibe of the austerity era garret, Auerbach still is working in the same Camden Town studio he has occupied since the 1950s.

Frank Auerbach (b.1931), Self-Portrait, 1958, charcoal and chalk on paper (Private Collection © the artist, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London)