Naked E. O. W.

Tate Gallery, London, the UK.

Board, oil.

After graduating from school, Frank Auerbach was going to be an actor. He got a role in one of London’s amateur theaters, where he met actress Estella Olive West, who insisted that the young man should be a painter and became his permanent model. For several decades of their relations, the artist created a large number of works depicting this woman. In this picture, Stella is depicted as naked in full growth – she lies in a dark space with a complete lack of interior. The thick and chaotic pasty strokes characteristic of Auerbach’s style do not allow you to determine at first glance what is shown here – just by looking you can distinguish a female figure lying on her stomach calm and relaxed.