John Lessore
Leon Kossoff's charcoal and chalk portrait of John Lessore captures the essence of its subject through expressive gestural drawing. The work reveals Kossoff's mastery of figurative representation and emotional directness.
- Medium
- charcoal and chalk on paper
- Location
- Sotheby's, New York, NY
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Sotheby'sView on map
🔨 Auction Lot
Modern British Day Auction
June 30, 2022
Estimate: $40,000 to $60,000
Lot 289
Artists in conversation
Frank Auerbach
British · b. 1931
Auerbach shares Kossoff's commitment to expressive gestural portraiture built through intense mark making, frequently depicting the same subjects repeatedly with raw emotional directness and a deeply physical approach to drawing and painting.
Lucian Freud
British · b. 1922
Freud's penetrating figurative portraits share the psychological intensity and unflinching observation found in this Kossoff charcoal work, with both artists prioritizing emotional truth and the weight of the human presence over idealization.
Käthe Kollwitz
German · b. 1867
Kollwitz worked extensively in charcoal and chalk with a similarly expressive and gestural approach to figurative drawing, producing monochrome works of profound emotional intensity that resonate closely with Kossoff's handling of the human figure.
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