Head of E.O.W. IV
oil on plywood
23.5" x 22.4" (59.8 cm x 56,8 cm)

1961. Frank Auerbach (1931-). National Galleries of Scotland.

Auerbach made numerous portraits of E.O.W. (his companion Stella West) from the 1950s to the 1970s. He painted her regularly in her home, three evenings a week and always by electric light. The lighting is part of the reason he has used these colours. Also, the monochrome paints were cheaper. The very thick paint is typical of Auerbach's work. The final image is not an accumulation of paint applied over a period of months; instead Auerbach regularly scrapes off all the paint and starts afresh almost daily.