Leon Kossoff

Leon Kossoff
Born(1926-12-10)10 December 1926
Islington, London, England
Died4 July 2019(2019-07-04) (aged 92)
London, England
Known forPainting
MovementSchool of London

Leon Kossoff (10 December 1926 – 4 July 2019) was a British figurative painter known for portraits, life drawings and cityscapes of London, England.

Early years and education

Kossoff was born on City Road in Islington, London.[1] He spent most of his early life living there with his Russian-Jewish from Ukraine.[1][2] His father was a baker.[1] In 1938, he attended the Hackney Downs School in London.[2] In 1939, he was evacuated with the school to King's Lynn, Norfolk, where he lived with Mr and Mrs R.C. Bishop, who encouraged his interest in art. During this time, Kossoff made his first paintings. When he returned to London in 1943, Kossoff went to Saint Martin's School of Art, and studied commercial art. He also attended life drawing classes in the evenings at Toynbee Hall.[2]

He spent three years in military service with the Royal Fusiliers, attached to the 2nd Battalion Jewish Brigade, and served in Italy, Holland, Belgium and Germany.[1] After his military service, he returned to the Saint Martin's School of Art in 1949, and at Borough Polytechnic, took special classes under David Bomberg from 1950 to 1952. He was also influenced by another one of his teacher's students, Frank Auerbach.[2] Both young artists dealt with similar emotions and subject matter in their work, and employed heavy impasto in their paintings. Kossoff chose his subject matter mostly from the area of London where he was born. From 1950 to 1953, Kossoff's studio was located at Mornington Crescent; he then moved to Bethnal Green, where he lived until 1961. Kossoff studied at the Royal College of Art from 1953 to 1956.[2]

Career

In 1956, Kossoff joined Helen Lessore's Beaux Arts Gallery, located on Bruton Place in London. In 1959, Kossoff began to teach at the Regent Street Polytechnic, the Chelsea School of Art, and the Saint Martin's School of Art, all in London. While teaching, he continued his artistic career, and soon started featuring in galleries and shows, along with his friend Frank Auerbach and other artists such as Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Keith Critchlow, a school friend from Saint Martin's. During this time, Kossoff moved his studio to Willesden Junction, and in 1966, moved his studio to Willesden Green permanently.[1]

In 1995, Kossoff exhibited his artworks at the 46th Venice Biennale,[3] and in 1996 he was the subject of a Tate Gallery retrospective.[4] In 2007, London's National Gallery held an exhibition of Kossoff's work entitled "Leon Kossoff: Drawing from Painting".[5] Kossoff declined appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[6] In 2010, Kossoff exhibited a travelling show of new paintings and drawings, beginning at Annely Juda Fine Art, London, then travelling to Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, and ending at L.A. Louver, Los Angeles.[7] In 2013–14, Kossoff's urban landscapes were shown in a travelling international exhibition, titled "Leon Kossoff: London Landscapes".[8]

Death and legacy

Kossoff died at the age of 92 on 4 July 2019 from complications of a stroke.[9][10]

In 2023, Hastings Contemporary organised a two-person exhibition with the work of Chaïm Soutine and Leon Kossoff.[11] In 2024, Kossoff's work was the subject of an exhibition entitled 'Close Encounters: Paintings and Drawings' at Xavier Hufkens.[12]

His 1971 painting Children's Swimming Pool, Autumn Afternoon was sold for £4.5m (£5.2m with fees) by Sotheby's in March 2026.[13]

Further reading

  • Sylvester, David; Fuchs, Rudi (1995). Leon Kossoff: Recent Paintings. London: British Council Visual Arts Publications. ISBN 9780863552915.
  • Moorhouse, Paul (1996). Leon Kossoff: Tate Gallery 1996. London: Tate Publishing. ISBN 1854371819.
  • Kertess, Klaus (2000). Leon Kossoff. London: Annely Juda Fine Art. ISBN 9781870280785.
  • Tøjner, Poul Erik; Kold, Anders (2005). Leon Kossoff: Selected Paintings, 1956-2000. Humlebæk, Denmark: Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. ISBN 9788791607042.
  • Wiggins, Colin; Conisbee, Philip; Wilson-Bareau, Juliet (2007). Leon Kossoff: Drawing from Painting. London: National Gallery. ISBN 9781857093537.
  • Mitchell-Innes, Lucy; Alvarez, Al (2010). Leon Kossoff: From the Early Years, 1957-1967. New York: Mitchell-Innes & Nash. ISBN 9780981457819.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e McNay, Michael (7 July 2019). "Leon Kossoff obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2026. His father, Wolf, a baker, and mother, Rachel, had fled to Britain from persecution in Ukraine 20 years earlier.
  2. ^ a b c d e Tessler, Gloria (15 August 2019). "Obituary: Leon Kossoff". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 6 March 2026. Leon Kossoff was the second of seven children born to Russian-Jewish immigrants, Wolf, and Rachel, who had fled persecution in Ukraine 20 years earlier, and who struggled to support their family.
  3. ^ Graham-Dixon, Andrew (13 June 1995). ""Some take the Venice Biennale very seriously indeed; others regard it as the Eurovision Song Contest of Art."". The Independent. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Leon Kossoff | Artist". Artfacts.net.
  5. ^ Leon Kossoff: Drawing from Painting Archived 8 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Studio International, UK.
  6. ^ McGavin, Harvey (22 December 2003). "Honoured? No thanks, say elite of arts and TV". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  7. ^ "LEON KOSSOFF". Archived from the original on 25 November 2010.
  8. ^ Wullschlager, Jackie (3 May 2013). "Coming home: Leon Kossoff". Financial Times.
  9. ^ Smith, Roberta (22 July 2019). "Leon Kossoff, 92, Who Painted Portraits of Urban Life, Dies". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "Art Industry News: You Can Watch the Largest and Most Complex Public Art Restoration Ever Live Online + Other Stories". Artnet.com. 5 July 2019.
  11. ^ "SOUTINE KOSSOFF 1 April 2023 - 24 September 2023". Hastings Contemporary. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  12. ^ "Leon Kossoff Close Encounters: Paintings and Drawings". Xavier Hujkens. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  13. ^ Jhala, Kabir (5 March 2026). "London art market springs back to life in Sotheby's Modern and contemporary evening sale". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
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