Leon Kossoff

Annely Juda Fine Art, Art Basel, where acquired by the present owner in 2024

London, Annely Juda Fine Art, Springing to Life: Drawings by Leon Kossoff, 16 November 2023 - 3 February 2024, illustrated front cover

Throughout his long career, Leon Kossoff remained deeply engaged with the world immediately around him, finding enduring inspiration in the everyday landscapes of London. Repeatedly depicting the streets, railway lines, churches, flower stalls and bustling stations near his home, he brought to these familiar subjects a profound sense of personal connection. His works reveal an intimate understanding of the city, capturing the rhythms and nuances of life within a constantly changing metropolis. Though he often revisited the same locations, shifts in light, weather, season and atmosphere ensured that each drawing and painting emerged as a distinct encounter rather than a repetition. As he noted:

‘London, like the paint I use, seems to be in my blood stream. It's always moving – the skies, the streets, the buildings, the people who walk past me when I draw have become part of my life’ (Leon Kossoff, quoted in Leon Kossoff (exh. cat.), Tate, London, 1996, p.36).

The present work also bears a visual resemblance to the work of Francis Bacon, with the sense of movement that he captures so distinctly in almost ghostly figures.