Frank Auerbach, Head of E.O.W. III

Welcome. We’re going to take a five-minute mindful pause, to simply be with this painting by Frank Auerbach. 

Start by coming into a comfortable position. Whether you’re standing or sitting upright – feel  both your feet on the floor. Become aware of your body in stillness, and sense the space between you and this painting in front of you. 

Let your eyes move freely across the surface of the picture, this network of brushmarks, loaded with paint: taking in the rise and fall of the paint.  

If your mind wanders, notice that it’s been pulled away and come back to the simple activity of looking – here, at the texture of paint.

Tuning in to the colours of the painting now: starting with the yellows: long trails of yellow ochre paint…  and lines that reach to the very edges of the picture

Moving now to reds: any horizontal lines across the picture… and red lines that turn in circles. 

And finally to blue: tuning into the deepest blues here… and sensing where these dark blue areas are in deep contrast with lighter white paint.  

And as you rest with this picture for a moment longer, notice where the colours are touching and joining – and coming together to form the head and shoulders of a human figure. Allow this figure to appear to you, just as it is. Perhaps having a sense of these connected threads of paint, and the many threads that make up a person.

Broadening your awareness now, become aware of the wider space around the painting. Let your awareness expand to include the space of the room around you and any other people in it. (and) Bring your attention back to your own body, feeling your feet on the floor, before you move on from this picture and into the rest of your day.