Leon Kossoff
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Biography
Leon Kossoff, born in 1926 in London to a family of Russian-Jewish descent, was a key figure in the tradition of figurative painting in postwar Britain. His early education at Saint Martin’s School of Art and later at Toynbee Hall laid the foundation for a fruitful career. Kossoff’s artistic development was profoundly influenced by his mentor David Bomberg, a prominent British modernist painter known for his dynamic and expressive use of form. Kossoff, alongside his contemporaries Frank Auerbach and others associated with the ‘School of London’, became known for his emotionally intense and tactile approach to painting.
Kossoff's portraits, life studies, and depictions of London’s urban landscape are marked by a unique interplay of dense, impassioned brushwork and a palpable sense of materiality. His works not only the physicality of his subjects but also the psychological and emotional weight of their presence, achieved through thick, heavily worked layers of paint.
Kossoff’s approach to figuration resisted the ascendancy of abstraction in the postwar period. While numerous artists championed minimalism and conceptualism, Kossoff adhered to a vision that placed the figure at the centre of his practice. His commitment to depicting the human body in all its complexity, as well as his deep engagement with the particularities of place—especially the streets and buildings of London—marks his work as part of the enduring tradition of figurative art.
Kossoff’s impact on British painting was recognized both in his lifetime and posthumously. He exhibited widely, including a major retrospective at the Tate Gallery in 1996. His works are held in significant collections, such as the Tate, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Kossoff’s exploration of the interplay between the physical and emotional dimensions of the human experience remains a crucial aspect of his legacy.
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Timeline
1926 Born to Ukrainian-Jewish refugee parents in Islington, London
1939 Evacuates London with his family during the Second World War, and moves toNorfolk, East Anglia, where he felt deeply inspired by the surrounding art.
1943-53 Attends St Martin’s School of Art, London
1953-56 Studies at the Royal College of Art, London
1995 Represents the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
2019 Dies in London, UK
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Selected Exhibitions
1964 Tate Gallery, London
1967 Tate Gallery, London
1974 Hayward Gallery, London
1976 Hayward Gallery, London
1977 Royal Academy of Arts, London
1979 Hayward Gallery, London
1981-84 Eight figurative painters: Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, William Coldstream, Lucian Freud, Patrick George, Leon Kossoff, Euan Uglow, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven; travelling to Santa Barbara, California 13 Britische Künstler eine Ausstellung über Malerei. [13 British artists: a painting exhibition], Neue Galerie, Aaachen- Sammlung Ludwig; travelling to Mannheim and Braunschweig, Germany
1981 Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
1984 Hard-won image: traditional method and subject in recent British art, Tate Gallery, London, UK
1984 Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
1979-1984 The British Art Show: Old Allegiances and New Directions, City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; toured to Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield; and Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton
1987-88 British Art in the 20th Century: The Modern Movement, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1987 Current affairs: British painting and sculpture in the 1980’s, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, travelling to Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czechoslovakia and Warsaw, Poland
1988 Exhibition Road: Painters at the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Art, London
1989 Picturing people: British figurative art since 1945, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, travelling to Hong Kong and Singapore
1992 Da Bacon a oggi: l’outsider nella figurazione Britannica, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy
1995-96 XLVI Venice Biennale, British Pavilion, Venice, Italy
1997 Royal Academy illustrated: a souvenir of the 229th summer exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1998-2001
2000 Encounters: New Art From Old, The National Gallery, London
2005 Self-portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK travelling to Sydney, Australia
2007 National Gallery, London
2006 Passion for paint, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol, travelling to Newcastle upon Tyne and London
2014 A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Courtauld Gallery, London
2021 Defining British Art, 1910-2000, Piano Nobile Gallery, London
2022 Postwar Modern: New Art in Britain 1945-1965, The Barbican, London
2022 Leon Kossoff: Etchings, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London
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Works
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Leon KossoffFidelma I, 1984Etching on paper -
Leon KossoffFidelma II, 1984Etching on paper
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Leon KossoffFidelma IV, 1984Etching on paper
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Leon KossoffGoing Home, 1984Drypoint etching and aquatint on paper
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Leon KossoffThe Booking Hall, 1982Etching on paper
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Leon KossoffNude on Bed, 1971Oil on board
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Exhibitions
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Prints I published
12 February - 9 March 2019In 1969 Bernard Jacobson began his career as an art dealer, selling and publishing prints by important contemporary artists from a small fourth-floor gallery in London’s Mayfair. For a gallery... -
Some of the artists I have worked for
10 September - 5 October 2019To end the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the gallery, we are delighted to introduce a selection of works by the artists that helped shaping its success. -
Leon Kossoff: Etchings
1 - 24 September 2022Bernard Jacobson Gallery presents a selection of etchings from the 1980s by British artist Leon Kossoff. The etchings, which were published by Bernard Jacobson, reveal Kossoff’s profound connection to London.
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Art Fairs
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Publications
