Frank Auerbach died at the age of 93: The famous painter who escaped from the Nazis as a Holocaust orphan died at his home in London

British-German painter Frank Auerbach, who fled Nazi Germany as a child, has died at the age of 93, his representatives announced.

Auerbach, considered one of the best painters of his generation, died at his home in London on Monday.

In a career spanning seven decades, Auerbach’s work has been exhibited in major galleries around the world.

British-German painter Frank Auerbach, who fled Nazi Germany as a child, has died at the age of 93, his representatives announced

Auerbach, considered one of the best painters of his generation, died at his home in London on Monday.

Born in Berlin in 1931, Auerbach came to England as a child refugee in 1939. He was one of six children sponsored by author Iris Origo.

Auerbach grew up at Bunce Court, then a Jewish-Quaker school in Kent. It is now a private house. His family was sent to a death camp by the Nazis.

Auerbach recalled that there was no ‘oppressive presence of harmful adults’ at Bunce Court.

St in London After studying at Martin’s School of Art and the Royal College of Art, he devoted the remaining seventy years of his life to painting.

He lived and worked in the same north London studio from 1954 until his death, working 364 days a year, according to his gallery.

Along with other ‘London School’ post-war artists, including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Leon Kossoff, he focused on figurative painting independently of changing artistic fashions.

He would often cover canvases with thick layers of paint to create near-abstract yet recognizable landscapes.

Auerbach represented Britain at the 1986 Venice Biennale, winning the Golden Lion grand prize.

In 1995 he had a rare solo exhibition at the National Gallery, in which he recreated the masterpieces of Rubens and Titian.

Auerbach’s works have been acquired by major galleries in Britain, including the National Gallery, the Tate and the British Museum.

Galleries overseas, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Gallery of Australia, have also purchased his works.

The artist had little interest in money or expensive items and lived in Camden throughout his adult life.

‘If I move I’ll lose a lot of work, life is too short and I’m extremely slow. ‘I don’t have time to move,’ he once said.

Frank Auerbach’s View of Mornington Crescent Station. Sold for over £1 million in 2010

Self-portrait, Frank Auerbach, 1958. Exhibited in The Charcoal Heads exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery.

The artist continued to paint every day until his last days.

His most recent exhibition, Frank Auerbach: Coalheads, opened at the Courtauld Gallery in London in February.

In later life his work fetched high prices. In 2023, ‘Mornington Crescent’, one of many works inspired by the urban streets near his home, sold for $7.1 million at Sotheby’s; This is a record for the artist.

“We have lost a dear friend and a remarkable artist, but we take comfort in knowing that his voice will echo for generations to come,” said Geoffrey Parton, Director of Frankie Rossi Art Projects.

Auerbach married Julia Wolstenhome in 1958. They had a son named Jacob.