Born in Berlin on 29 April 1931, Frank Auerbach was sent to England by his parents in 1939 and spent the war years at a Quaker school in Kent. He acquired British nationality in 1947. He studied at St Martin's School of Art, London (1948-52), attended David Bomberg's life class at London's Borough Polytechnic (1947-48), and continued his studies at the Royal College of Art, London (1952-55). Between 1956 and 1968 he taught part-time at the Sidcup, Ealing, Bromley, Camberwell and Slade schools of art. he held his first solo exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery, London, in 1956 and began exhibiting with Marlborough Fine Art, London, in 1965. He has contributed to many important survey exhibitions of British art, including 'British Painting in the Sixties' (Tate Gallery and Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1964), 'British Painting 1952-1977' (Royal Academy, London, 1977), 'Eight figurative Painters' (Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, 1981) and 'British Art in the 20th Century' (Royal Academy, London, 1987). In 1978 a retrospective of his work was organised by the Arts Council of Great Britain. In 1986 Auerbach was chosen as the sole British representative for the Venice Biennale and shared the first prize for painting with Sigmar Polke. Auerbach lives and works in London.