The Jewish artist Frank Auerbach was born in 1931 in Berlin, a time when Germany was tipping toward catastrophe. In 1939, he was sent to England to escape Hitler; his parents didn’t make it out of the country and were killed at Auschwitz. Auerbach found his way to St. Martins School of Art, and then studied at the Royal College of Art. His style is distinct. He heaps paint on canvas in thick layers to create imagery of moody intensity and depth. He does not flinch from the horrors of his early days. This exhibition, the first dedicated to Auerbach’s portrait heads, includes 40 paintings and drawings, dating from 1965 until 2020. —Elena Clavarino