Auerbach came to England before he was eight years old, despatched to safety by his parents who remained in Nazi Germany and subsequently died in one of its concentration camps. Originally he had ambitions to go on the stage, but took to painting and, as a student, was particularly influenced by the teachings of David Bomberg at the Borough Polytechnic. After studying at the Royal College of Art, he began occupying his North London studio in 1953 and ever since has concentrated on painting the area around it, while also repeatedly painting his wife, son, and a small circle of close friends. Many of these have sat for him for years. This portrait of Ken Garland, an influential graphic designer and editor of Design magazine, is, typically, the result of innumerable sittings, its liveliness carried in quick strokes and the flash of cobalt blue in the sitter’s left eye.

Thresholds, British Council 2010