Artwork
Cephalus and Aurora (after Poussin)
Cephalus and Aurora (after Poussin) is a print by Leon Kossoff. It dates from 1998 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Cephalus and Aurora is a print made by Leon Kossoff in 1998. It is based on a work by Poussin.
Kossoff was a British figurative painter who also made prints, often exploring the same themes as his paintings. He approached printmaking as a draughtsman, focusing on line and composition.
To learn more about the techniques used in prints like this one, look up the technique of sfumato.
Overview
Leon Kossoff’s 1998 print Cephalus and Aurora reinterprets a composition by Nicolas Poussin. Executed as an etching, the work translates the original painting’s narrative into a monochrome study of line and form. Kossoff’s approach treats the print as a drawing, emphasizing the structural qualities of the scene rather than its colouristic details.
Subject & Meaning
The image depicts the mythological encounter between the hunter Cephalus and the dawn goddess Aurora, a theme frequently rendered by Poussin. By removing the painterly surface, Kossoff invites viewers to focus on the gesture and spatial relationship of the figures, suggesting a contemplation of the underlying narrative through the economy of line.
Technique & Style
Kossoff employed traditional etching methods, working directly on copper plates to incise the composition. The process involved multiple states, each refined to capture the precise contour and tonal variation he sought. The resulting marks exhibit his characteristic draughtsmanship, with a dense, almost sculptural line quality that recalls his figurative paintings.
History & Provenance
Created as part of a 1998 series of etchings after Old Master paintings, the work was developed in collaboration with artist Ann Dowker. Final proofs were printed and editioned by Marc Balakjian at Studio Prints, a workshop known for handling Kossoff’s print output. The edition remains in private and institutional collections.
Context
Kossoff’s series of etchings after Poussin, Rembrandt and Veronese reflects a broader late‑20th‑century interest among British figurative artists in revisiting canonical works. By stripping colour and concentrating on line, he aligned his practice with contemporaries such as Frank Auerbach and Lucian Freud, who also used printmaking to explore the fundamentals of drawing.
Artist & collection
Artist
Leon Kossoff (10 December 1926 – 4 July 2019) was a British figurative painter known for portraits, life drawings and cityscapes of London, England.
