Seated J.Y.M. No. 1

Tate Gallery, London, the UK.

Board, oil.

Juliet Yardley Mills (J.Y.M.), the main model of Frank Auerbach since 1963, posed for this work. This is her first image of three portraits painted in 1981, which was completed in 20 sessions. Like in many other pictures, the woman’s head is slightly tilted, and her gaze is fixed on the distance. Unlike his earlier paintings, in which the artist applied the paint in a very thick layer, this portrait has a moderate amount of colour because he used his fingers to create smooth, curving lines. Frank Auerbach applied this painting method in almost all of his works in the mature and late periods.