MASTERPIECES FROM THE BEN URI COLLECTION
LEON KOSSOFF (1926-2019)
PORTRAIT
OF N M SEEDO
1957
Charcoal on paper
LEON KOSSOFF
Leon Kossoff’s Portrait of N M Seedo exemplifies the artist’s commitment to the expressive potential of drawing and his intense engagement with the human figure Executed in thick, energetic strokes of charcoal, the portrait radiates a raw emotional charge, evoking both physical presence and psychological introspection
The sitter’s form abstracted almost to the point of dissolution emerges from a dense network of gestural lines, conveying a dynamic interplay between structure and flux Kossoff, a key figure in the postwar School of London, was deeply influenced by his studies under David Bomberg, whose teachings on the primacy of "spirit in the mass" resonate powerfully in this work
Here, the figure of N M Seedo is not rendered in conventional likeness but rather revealed through an accumulation of movements and revisions, as if Kossoff were struggling to uncover the sitter’s essence beneath the surface The heavy, looping contours and vigorous tonal contrasts contribute to a sense of existential gravity, situating the portrait within the broader expressionist tradition. The drawing also reflects Kossoff’s belief in the primacy of direct observation and repetition. This portrait, like much of his output, is the result of sustained sittings and prolonged encounters, resulting in a deeply personal and viscerally human record of presence and memory
Artist Leon Kossoff was born to Jewish immigrant parents in Islington, London, England on 10 December 1926 His parents were both born in what was formerly the Russian Empire, and is now the Ukraine (both emigrated as children, and met and married in London in 1924); Leon was raised in the East End, where his parents ran a
bakery During the Second World War he was evacuated to King’s Lynn in Norfolk, where his host family encouraged his passion for drawing, and he subsequently attended life classes at Toynbee Hall in the East End, and Saturday classes at St Martin’s School of Art. Following National Service with the Royal Fusiliers Jewish Brigade (1945–48), he studied at St Martin’s School of Art (1949–53) and the Royal College of Art (1953-56), alongside Frank Auerbach, with whom he also attended David Bomberg’s evening classes at the Borough Polytechnic (1950-52), which proved a formative experience In 1956, the year in which he participated in the Tercentenary Exhibition of Contemporary Anglo-Jewish Artists at Ben Uri Gallery, he had the first of five solo shows at Helen Lessore’s Beaux Art Gallery (1957-64), followed by more than 30 further solo exhibitions hosted by institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1981), the Venice Biennale (1995), Tate (1996), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2000) and the National Gallery (2007).
He also participated in numerous group exhibitions including in 1976, The Human Clay, an exhibition selected by R B Kitaj, which brought together a loose group of figurative artists, whom he referred to as representing a ‘School of London' a label subsequently much debated London was the focus of much of Kossoff's work, from early postwar bombed cityscapes to a series based on Christ Church, Spitalfields and scenes of intense human activity including the underground, train stations, parks and swimming pools in Dalston, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch, Kilburn, Willesden and the Embankment He also drew daily from life, often in charcoal. His final exhibition 'Leon Kossoff: A London Life' was held at Piano Nobile, London in 2019. Leon Kossoff died in London, England on 4 July 2019, aged 92 His work is represented in numerous UK collections including the Arts Council, the Ben Uri Collection, the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal College of Art and Tate, and in international collections including the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and MoMA A retrospective, accompanying the publication of a catalogue raisonné of paintings, edited by Andrea Rose, was held at Annely Juda Fine Art in 2021
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
COLLECTION: https://benuri.org/collections/
BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/
