LONDON.- Frank Auerbach’s J.Y.M. Seated in the Studio VI is one of the highlights of Bonhams Post-War & Contemporary Art Sale on 22 October in London. The work, which dates from 1988, was personally selected by Auerbach to be included in his landmark Tate Britain retrospective in 2015. It has an estimate of £380,000 - 450,000.

Ralph Taylor, Bonhams Global Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, commented: “With such powerful, resonant and inimitable works, it is no wonder that Frank Auerbach continues to be held in such high international esteem. Auerbach’s sitters have been a constant subject of engagement and experimentation, and for four decades, 'J.Y.M.' – Juliet Yardley Mills – was a central protagonist. J.Y.M. Seated in the Studio VI is a definitive example of Auerbach’s accomplished style, and it is not surprising that the artist personally selected it for his 2015 retrospective at Tate Britain as one of the works that define his six-decade long career. With its sculptural brushwork and bold expressive use of colour, this is one of the finest works by Auerbach to come to the market in recent years.”

Frank Auerbach (1931-)
A German-born émigré artist, based in London, Frank Auerbach arrived in Britain as a refugee in 1939 at the age of eight, and came of age in the war-torn London of the 1950s alongside Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, David Hockney and Leon Kossoff. Together they would become known as the “School of London”, a term used by R.B.Kitaj in 1976 to describe the British artists he particularly admired.




Auerbach remains one of the most prolific and collectible artists currently working. Rarely leaving Britain, he lives and works in London, and has had the same studio since the 1950s. His work is held in museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Other highlights of the sale include:

• Banksy (b. 1975), Oh My God, 2006. Estimate: £700,000-1,000,000. Oh My God was first exhibited at Banksy's landmark Barely Legal exhibition in Los Angeles in 2006. His debut show in the United States, Barely Legal drew celebrity and global press attention, and cemented Banksy as one of the most admired, and notorious, artists working today. Oh My God is unique and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Pest Control Office.

• Christo (1935-2020), Store Front (Project), 1964. Estimate: £160,000-220,000.

• Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017) For Edward, 1984. Estimate: £80,000-120,000.