Frank Auerbach Artist Catalog
— Publication Design, 2021
— Adobe InDesign, Photoshop
Objective —
To curate a selection of work and design an artist catalog that presents Frank Auerbach’s story in a new way
About —
Frank Auerbach is one of the most significant post-war artists based in the UK, and he is well-known for his impasto technique (“thick paint”). He typically paints his daily life: landscapes around him and portraits of his family and friends.
Process —
Frank Auerbach had family and friends as his models for decades, and the central idea was to capture his portraits into one catalog with a “photo album” approach. He only had a small group of people who were models of his portraits, and he titled his artworks as “Head of (name of model)”, often with a roman numeral that follows. For this catalog, the sections were divided and curated into the names of the most significant models. All the text is in one location so that the viewer can fully engage with the paintings.
In terms of organizing the paintings for each model, there was special attention in the placement of images, and the orientation the model posed. It creates more motion between pages and provides cues for viewers to turn the page. In addition, there are a few sections with the folds where the additional layer imitates the “impasto” technique that Auerbach used.
