Leon Kossoff
Born – London, England 1926
Leon Kossoff was one of seven children born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. Based on his immediate environment, his lustrous paintings tacitly acknowledge his origins. Speaking about his work in 1947, he suggests that images of the city that fill his pictures similarly infuse his mind, “like a faintly glimmering memory of a long forgotten, perhaps never experienced childhood.” He attended David Bomberg’s evening classes at the Borough Polytechnic from 1950 to 1952 and studied at St Martin’s School of Art, the Royal College of Art and Chelsea School of Art, finishing his formal art training by the mid-1950s. He had his first solo exhibition in 1957 and joined the London Group of artists in 1962. Stylistically similar to the work of Frank Auerbach, Kossoff’s range of subject matter is also confined to his locality, friends and trusted models. Kossoff’s thick, syrupy paint surface is the result of many layers of chalky coloured impasto. It is difficult to distinguish where drawing ends and painting begins. Children’s Swimming Pool After Afternoon is typical of Kossoff’s monumental appraisal of a complex subject, challenging in its perspective depth and changing light effects.
Masterpieces:
- Booking Hall, Kilburn Underground
- Between Kilburn and Willesden Green, Winter Evening
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About leon kossoff
Leon Kossoff: Drawing from Painting (National Gallery London)
Colin Wiggins
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Leon Kossoff
Leon Kossoff
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Leon Kossoff: From the Early Years, 1957-1967
Al Alvarez
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