Leon Kossoff

Beaux Arts Gallery, London
Walter P. Chrysler Jr., New York
Herbert Ferber, New York
Heinz Warburg, England
Sale: Sotheby's, London, Contemporary Art, 10 December 1999, Lot 216
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is warmer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Upon very close inspection, there are a number of extremely short, fine cracks to some of the thicker areas of impasto paint and a few losses to some of the impasto peaks. There is a small pin hole above the centre of the composition, and a further smaller hole beneath this, with associated paint loss. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"The urgency that drives me to work is not only to do with the pressure of the accumulation of memories and the unique quality of the subject of this particular day but also with the awareness that time is short, that soon the mass of this building will be dwarfed by more looming office blocks and overshadowed, the character of the structure will be lost for ever, for by it's monumental flight into unimpeded space that we remember this building."

Leon Kossoff in Exhibition Catalogue, Venice, British Pavilion, XLVI Venice Biennale, Leon Kossoff: Recent Paintings, 1995, p. 25

To stand in front of Leon Kossoff's formidable Building Site St. Paul's is to surrender oneself to the expansive power that undulates throughout the illuminative and thickly articulated surface. The frame falls away, and the viewer is left on the vertiginous precipice of a scene so powerful and central to the work of the artist that we see its image revisited and reconstituted with compulsive fascination throughout Kossoff's artistic career. 

For over six decades the streets, buildings and traders of London have been central to Kossoff's work. His relationship with these places throughout his life and within the context of the greater city are passionately and loyally addressed with highly personal and emotive ability. Painting during a time of rapid urbanization, Kossoff focused his artistic attention on those sites that presented an accumulation of both personal memory and a more universal importance within the London, creating an urgent dialogue with the past within the evolving city. At the time in which this painting was realised, London was dealing with the ravages of the Second World War. By escaping destruction during the Blitz, St. Paul's Cathedral became a symbol not only of religion, but also of survival to a city in much need of hope. Choosing to illustrate the building site of St. Paul's rather than the fully functional Cathedral, as it would have been in 1959, Kossoff moves beyond reality suggesting instead the importance of tradition and patriotic grandeur as his city rebuilt itself. Reworking the painterly conventions of the urban landscape, Kossoff does not simply mirror reality in his painting, but rather imbues that which he sees with metaphysical importance, folding into the fabric of his work the revelatory possibilities of art.

Impassioned by the city around him, the structural depth and weighty materiality of Kossoff's work impregnate the scene with pulsing life, every added layer and nervously applied brushstroke animating the surface of the work.  The artist utilises layer upon layer of paint not only as measure of time and tradition, but also as a way to choreograph movement across the surface. The density of the impasto brushwork and deep tonality of the pigment almost overcome the image, however simultaneously allow for the revelatory illumination of the site through the warm yellows and oranges that flicker across the surface and elucidate the scene. As with Francis Bacon, in the hands of Kossoff the paint is flesh, however for Kossoff the flesh is that of London, that changes with each sitting.