Leon Kossoff, From Poussin: A Bacchanalian Revel before a Term, Hand coloured etching and drypoint, 29.4 x 40 cm, Private collection, © Leon Kossoff. |
Drawing the Masters on Paper and Plates as a 20th Century Practice |
Leon Kossoff, From Poussin: Cephalus and Aurora, Pastel, charcoal and ink on paper, 57.8 x 74.9 cm.
Leon Kossoff, From Rubens: The Judgement of Paris, Charcoal and pastel on paper, 56.5 x76 cm.
Leon Kossoff, From Titian: Venus and Adonis, Black and coloured chalks on paper, 55.2 x 68.5 cm. |
|
The National Gallery In 1936, at the age of ten, Leon Kossoff found his way from Hackney to the steps of the National Gallery. At first, never having seen a painting before, he was awestruck. Later, he said, 'It seemed as though all the streets of London led there.' The paintings were removed during the war, though there were momentary sightings of works which, together with the concerts of Myra Hess, brought comfort to the people of war-torn London. After military service, Kossoff became a more frequent visitor as an art student and started to draw seriously. In the late 1980s he began printmaking, bringing the plates to the National Gallery, and drawing on them directly in front of the paintings. During this time, he also drew and made prints at the exhibitions at the Royal Academy devoted to the art of Venice, Poussin, early Cézanne, and Goya. Some of these drawings will also be on show. In 1998 and 1999, Kossoff painted two studies in the studio from his drawings of Cephalus and Aurora by Poussin and Rembrandt's Ecce Homo, both of which will be in the exhibition. Leon Kossoff (born London 1926) has recently enjoyed international recognition as a leading British artist. Notably in the mid-1990s he was chosen to represent Britain at the Venice International Biennale, and honoured with a retrospective at the Tate Gallery in London. In addition, the National Gallery in London invited Kossoff to contribute works inspired by the permanent collection to its major exhibition to mark the millennium, Encounters. Previously Kossoff’s intuitive, tactile style and subject matter of urban landscapes and intimate figure studies had been at odds with prevailing developments in modern art. Kossoff studied art in post war London at St Martin’s School of Art and the Royal College of Art, but found the traditional method of life-class teaching ‘rigid and inhibiting’. During the early 1950s Kossoff also took evening classes at Borough Polytechnic under the tuition of David Bomberg. The experience was a revelation and the young artist developed a comparable method, which combined careful study and analysis of his subject with an improvisatory, intuitive manner. Although working from great artists is a common practice, Kossoff’s approach differs from that of Picasso, for example, whose interpretation of say a Rembrandt, a Delacroix or a Manet was often more combative and a means by which Picasso could favourably compare himself to the masters of European art. Kossoff instead considered the process, whether in paint, pen or charcoal, as a step in learning how to ‘draw’.’ As the artist himself noted, ‘Every day I awake with the idea that TODAY I MUST TEACH MYSELF TO DRAW. I have also each day to experience the fact that images can only emerge out of chaos.’” |
Leon Kossoff, From Poussin: Landscape with a Man killed by a Snake, Private Collection, © Leon Kossoff. |
