Leon Kossoff

The Artist, by whom gifted to Peter Fuller
Stephanie Burns Collection, Canberra
Sale, Deutscher-Menzies, Malvern, 16th June 2004, lot 89, where acquired by the present owner

Original canvas. The canvas appears sound. There is some light surface dirt and studio detritus across the work. There is some discolouration to the varnish. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in excellent overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals some fluorescence which is thought to be inkeeping with the artist's materials. The work is float mounted and presented in a simple painted and gilded wooden frame. The work has been affixed to the frame with screws around the edges of the stretcher. The central screw in the upper horizontal edge has been affixed in a way that has caused a small spot of the backing board of the frame to slip slightly. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"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 fabric of my work through the last forty years has been dependent on those people who have so patiently sat for me, each one uniquely transforming my space by their presence...'
(The Artist, quoted in Paul Moorhouse, Leon Kossoff (exh. cat.), Tate, London, 1996, p.36).

The human figure has always been at the heart of Kossoff's artistic practice. Ever since he accidently walked into a life drawing class taking place in the Toynbee Hall, Spitalfields, in 1943, he has strongly believed in the necessity of working from life and in the assiduous observation of the model. Indeed, this approach instructs each and every one of his subjects and alongside his concern with the figure, Kossoff has developed a parallel interest in the urban landscape and with the same discerning eye, tirelessly returns to the same subjects, such as the railway lines at Willesden Junction, to capture new experiences and responses.

Following his earliest figure paintings such as Seated Woman (1951, Private Collection), Kossoff has demonstrated an acute physical relationship with the composition, constantly reworking and manipulating the paint surface, encapsulating the essence of the model in thick impasto. It was the boldness of this approach that initially restricted his development at St Martin's and it was only on attending David Bomberg's evening classes at Borough Polytechnic with Frank Auerbach from 1950-2 that he was able to fully develop in this vein. He later recalled that 'coming to Bomberg's classes, was like coming home... the life room at St Martin's at that time was very rigid and inhibiting and I remember a feeling of relief and excitement when I first entered Bomberg's class. People were working in a way I'd only previously dared to work on my own. The atmostphere was intense and everyone was involved in an energetic manner...' (The Artist, 1995, quoted in Paul Moorhouse, Leon Kossoff, (exh. cat.), Tate, London, 1996, p.12).  

He began an ongoing series of nude studies of his wife around this time. However, it was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s that he developed his seminal series of nudes such as Nude on a Red Bed No.1 (1968, Private Collection) and Nude on a Red Bed (1972, Private Collection) to which the present work is clearly related. In contrast to earlier works such as Seated Nude No. 1 (1963, Private Collection), he began to delineate the contours of the female figure with a more dynamic outline, clearly evident in the present work, and infused his palette with a richer range of red, yellow and mauve tones.

Executed over 40 years after his first experience of a life drawing class, the present Reclining Nude is just as immediate as if he was coming across the subject for the very first time. As he has explained, 'every time the model sits everything has changed. You have changed, she has changed. The light has changed, the balance has changed. The directions you try to remember are no longer there and, whether working from the model or landscape drawings, everything has to be reconstructed daily, many, many times...' (The Artist, 1987, ibid., p.22).

Peter Fuller was gifted this work directly from Leon Kossoff. Fuller was an early supporter of Kossoff’s work who lived minutes’ walk from Dalston Junction, where Kossoff had a studio between 1972 and 1975, an area which deeply inspired much of his work. Fuller is an important art critic and originally owned this work.