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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Works
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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 founded on printmaking and which continues to stage major print shows by artists including Matisse and Motherwell, what better way could there be to celebrate this half century than a two-part exhibition devoted to printmaking? -
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