Frank Auerbach

 Just finished reading Martin Gayford's "Modernists and Mavericks" which tells the tale of London based artists of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, one of whom was the German /British painter Frank Auerbach who made it his business to paint the bomb scarred buildings of London.  When I saw in the flesh his painting "Rebuilding the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square" I was gobsmacked. I literally had to tear myself away from that  room. It was just stupendous and has to be one of my favourite paintings of all time.

In a conversation in the book about the development of abstraction, Gayford quotes Auerbach thus:

"There were certain painters, Kandinsky is a prime example, who painted in a not very distinguished way, then at the point of turning towards abstraction painted some distinguished pictures. But when he'd crossed over they became for me rather mediocre again. So it's the "process" of abstracting that makes for the tension and excitement. So I thought the thing to do is to cross that border again, and again and again.

I have not heard that perception before and I think it's an interesting one.  I do know though how easy it is to fall into the trap of "sweetness" in both abstraction and figuration. Don't get bored.........