LEON KOSSOFF

The exhibition offers a retrospective view of the artist’s most well known subjects, capturing subtle glimpses into the nuances of his city from 1952 to 2012. In sweeping, seemingly spontaneous charcoal compositions, Kossoff presents a life in London; the movement of urban dwellers and the fabric around which their lives are defined. Views of Christ Church (1992), King’s Cross Building Site Early Days (2003), and Arnold Circus (20082012), have become Kossoff’s classic landscapes, while the implied commuters in Train by Night (1990), Inside Kilburn Underground Booking Hall Summer No.2 (1983), and The Flower Stall, Embankment Station (1994), are his unseen ghostlike subjects.

‘Leon Kossoff drawings are every bit as searching as his paintings. The paintings summon up observations made over time (sometimes a very long time). The drawings—done from life as it were—seize the moment, asserting the look and feel of a particular place, at a particular time, in a particular light. Their energy fills the drawing sheet and sketchbook page.

• Andrea Rose, Kossoff’s London (2013)

Leon Kossoff (b. 1926) is one of Britain’s pre-eminent living artists. Kossoff’s work has been exhibited worldwide, including exhibitions at the National Gallery, London (2007); Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark (2004-2005), Museum of Art Lucerne, Switzerland (2005); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California (2000); National Gallery of Australia Canberra (2002); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2000); the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2000); Tate Gallery, London (1996); Düsseldorf Kunstverein (1995-1996); and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, (1995-1996).

Kossoff represented Britain in the XLVI Venice Biennale in 1995.