Bonhams' 20th Century British Art department in London will be offering for sale an important Frank Auerbach oil painting, dating to 1976, at its November 18 auction.

Two years after it was painted, this work was included in the first major retrospective on the artist in 1978 by the Arts Council of Great Britain.

Just two oils of this date by Auerbach have ever appeared at auction - making the present work, entitled Portrait of JYM Seated, 1976, a rare and exciting picture.

Portrait of JYM Seated, 1976 (click to enlarge)

Estimated at £100,000-150,000 and accompanied by enviable provenance, JYM marks a unique opportunity to acquire a tour de force by one of Britain's finest artists.

JYM, or Juliet Yardley Mills, was a professional model and one of three women that the artist painted throughout his career; the other two being his wife Julia and lover Stella.

Born in Berlin in 1931, Auerbach's parents sent him to England in 1939 to escape the Nazis. 

He took British nationality in 1947 and went on to distinguish himself at St Martin's School of Art and later the Royal College of Art.