Leon Kossoff

Fischer Fine Art Limited, London
R.B Kitaj Collection, Los Angeles
Sale: Christie's, London, The Collection of R.B. Kitaj, 7 February 2008, Lot 324
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Oxford, Museum of Modern Art, Leon Kossoff: Paintings from a Decade: 1970-1980, 1981, p.11, no.3, illustrated

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the green background is brighter and more vibrant, and fails to fully convey the wide variety of undertones apparent in the heavy impasto of the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Extremely close inspection reveals a minute and unobtrusive crack to the heavy impasto towards the centre of the lower overturn edge. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
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Throughout his highly distinctive series of portraits, Leon Kossoff repeatedly returns to the depiction of a select group of people, mainly family and a close circle of friends. As exemplified in this striking Head of George Thompson No. I, the particular power of his work in portraiture is created from the sense of intimacy and proximity with familiar sitters, a work that is far from immediate according to the artist: “I can go on for years before the presence of the sitter animates the painting” (the artist quoted in: David Sylvester, Recent Paintings, London 1995, p. 18).

The spontaneous capturing of a likeness in a few hours is replaced by a slow, patient work in order to coax or tame it into the painting – a likeness that is not fixed, but that remains as fluid and multi-layered as the very construction of the portrait. It does not aim to reach a definite conclusion but to create a presence and life within the tactile streaks and workings of the artist’s brushstrokes and fingers. The paint and its organic consistency becomes a reality in itself through the sheer volume and presence that it builds up. This constant reworking brings complexity to the surface rather than heaviness, induced as it is with a sense of light and vibrancy to make the dark, earthy tones glow from within.

Kossoff rediscovers new facets within a known face to find new surprises and variations in the familiar. Layering and working the paint, playing with its thickness and modelling it into shape, is both the process and the outcome of his exploration of Thompson’s face. The fact that this is Kossoff’s friend, beyond the quality of the brushwork and layering, makes this physical, technical process memorable. This is not the depiction of a person’s exact likeness so much as the portraiture of a relationship in all its changeability and complexity. The viewpoint cancels all distance, as though the artist were face to face with Thompson and involved in a close conversation that we can listen into. This intimate rendering of George Thompson makes the present work an exceptional example of Leon Kossoff’s utterly original practice, demonstrated by the artist’s unique handling of paint and scrutiny of familiar faces.