Julia 1989

Curator: This is Frank Auerbach's "Julia", a small etching acquired by the Tate. The image size is 178 by 146 millimeters. Editor: Chaotic, immediate, raw. It’s like catching a thought just as it forms. What medium did Auerbach use? Curator: He worked with etching, which allows for a kind of controlled spontaneity. Think of the acid biting into the metal plate, the artist guiding the tool. Editor: I see a struggle here, a process. The deliberate action of repeated mark-making, almost like a sculptor building form with lines. It's not just about representation; it's about the labor of creating an image. Curator: The etched lines certainly evoke something primal. The image doesn't present Julia literally but more like a fleeting glimpse into her symbolic essence. Editor: The making seems far more important than the image itself. Curator: Perhaps! For me, it’s the feeling it provokes—a sense of recognition, even without a clear likeness. Editor: Ultimately it's the physical process that speaks loudest in this piece. Curator: And for me, it's how those etched lines echo in our cultural memory of portraiture, but also of fragmentation and reinvention.