The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Head of Gerda Boehm

Head of Gerda Boehm

1981
(British, 1931-)
Framed: 90 x 84.5 x 5.5 cm (35 7/16 x 33 1/4 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 64.1 x 61 cm (25 1/4 x 24 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

In his portraits, Auerbach is more interested in capturing personality, emotion, and form than representing the person’s likeness. This is a portrait of his cousin Gerda, presented as a series of shared experiences between the artist and sitter. By scraping and building up the canvas surface with thick paint he creates abstracted figures. As he said about painting portraits, “Nothing can be left out…you have to bury the irrelevant in the painting somehow,” evident in the painting’s overwhelming sculptural thickness. Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1982.38
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Masterworks on Loan: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Cleveland Museum of Art: October 2016 through February 2017. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016.
    Auerbach, Frank, and William Feaver. Frank Auerbach.
    New York : Rizzoli, 2022. Reproduced: p. 331, no. 458
  • "Contemporary Collection," CMA (Aug. 17 - Nov. 6, 1983).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
    "Contemporary Art," CMA (Nov. 3 - Dec. 12, 1982).
    "Frank Auerbach," Marlborough Gallery, New York City (April 2 - 30, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Head of Gerda Boehm|url=false|author=Frank Auerbach|year=1981|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.38