J.Y.M Seated VI

As Robert Hughes relates of Auerbach's sitters "Apart from [his wife Julia] there have been two constant models in his working life, people who became themes of his art in themselves. One is 'J.Y.M.', Juliet Yardley Mills, a professional model whom Auerbach met in 1957 when she was working at Sidcup School of Art; she offerd to pose for him privately and did so, often in continuous sessions of four or five hours at a stretch, through thick and thin, for more than thirty years. Over that time she became a close and permanent friend of Auerbach's, who has turned her into one of the most vivid personages in modern depictive art" (R. Hughes, Frank Auerbach, London 1990, p. 89).