'His Voice will resonate for generations': Frank Auerbach dies aged 93

Frank Auerbach, the artist who arrived in Britain as a Jewish refugee fleeing Hitler's Germany and went on to become one of the most significant figurative painters of the postwar era, has died aged 93.

- Tim Jonze Nadia Khomami

Over a career spanning seven decades, the British-German artist was known for his portraiture as well as street scenes of Camden Town in north London, where he kept the same studio for 50 years. He was also known for the unique way in which he created his work - repeatedly scraping the paint from versions he was dissatisfied with and starting again until the finished work could be so laden with paint that it threatened to wobble off the canvas.

He once estimated that 95% of his paint ended up in the bin. "I'm trying to find a new way to express something," he once told the Guardian. "So I rehearse all the other ways until I surprise myself with something I haven't previously considered."

Geoffrey Parton, a director of Auerbach's gallery, Frankie Rossi Art Projects, said: "Frank Auerbach, one of the greatest painters of our age, died peacefully in the early hours of Monday 11 November at his home in London.

"We have lost a dear friend and remarkable artist but take comfort knowing his voice will resonate for generations to come."

Auerbach was born in Berlin in 1931 but arrived in Britain eight years later as one of six children to be sponsored by Antonio and Iris Origo. His father, an engineering patent agent, and mother, who trained as an artist, were both murdered in the concentration camps at Auschwitz.