Rebuilding the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square
- Artist: Frank Helmuth Auerbach
- Date: 1962
- Medium: oil on board
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Rebuilding the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square” by Frank Helmuth Auerbach. Painted in 1962, the work is rendered in oil on board, giving the artist a fine control over texture and detail. From the title we can sense a sense of post‑war renewal—Leicester Square was a lively hub before the Blitz, and the canvas invites us to imagine its reconstruction in bright, hopeful strokes. Auerbach’s palette here leans toward warm earth tones, punctuated with sharp, almost angular lines that suggest both the concrete framework of the cinema and the human hands working beneath it. The composition feels dynamic; the viewer’s eye is drawn across the scene, perhaps following the rhythm of brickwork and the shimmer of new glass. While the exact layout of the buildings isn’t fully defined, the artist clearly focuses on the interplay between shadow and light, hinting at the changing days of the London skyline. Overall, this piece stands as a testament to resilience and artistic ambition, reminding us that even in the aftermath of devastation, art can capture the spirit of rebuilding.
See it in person
Rebuilding the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
