Vote No: Keep Freud's Auerbachs in London

A great show; an Arts Council blunder.


Never mind all the guff about how collections tell us a lot about the collectors who have made them. Usually they do not. Often a collection doesn't even add to our appreciation or understanding of the individual works that make it up. But exceptionally, when a collector has a good eye and is in sympathy with what he is acquiring, the results can be powerful and illuminating. And so it is with the 40 works by Frank Auerbach owned by Lucian Freud at the time of his death in 2011. The paintings and drawings (and birthday cards) are temporarily on view at Tate Britain. Go see it if you possibly can. It is the best Auerbach retrospective London has known. You will have to hurry. The show closes November 9, After that Freud's Auerbachs are to be broken up; the collection dispersed. What a mistake!

Rebuilding the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square
1962

Freud (b.1922) and Auerbach (b.1931), both child-refugees from Nazi Germany, grew up to ambitious artists not lacking in competitiveness. They spent their working lives in London. Even such a vast metropolis can be too small for some artists to share but these two men became close friends.

They exchanged paintings but Freud also bought Auerbachs. He built a collection of works dating from the 1950s through to 2007. Following Freud's death, this collection was accepted by the Arts Council which administers the in lieu scheme. As a result, the death duties owed by Freud's heirs have been substantially reduced and museums around the country will be given works by Auerbach works. If Freud's was a so-so collection the idea would be fine. But it is revelatory; a delight. The Arts Council has made a huge mistake. 

Yes, it ticks the box "We are not elitist" and no, it does not tick the box, "London gets all the goodies," So the Arts Council has been politically correct. It has also been artistically blind .   

  
  The Tate already owns (or has on loan) 77 works by Auerbach. Why not chose 40 of these and distribute those around the country and KEEP FREUD'S AUERBACHS TOGETHER AT TATE BRITAIN IN LONDON. Public appreciation or Auerbach's on- going achievements will soar and Freud will be lauded for his not always appreciated generosity of spirit and his good eye. Visitor numbers to Tate Britain will rise. Go for it Arts Council. Admit you got it wrong and make it right.