Bathsheba Reading David's Letter (after Rembrandt)
1998
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1998
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Bathsheba Reading David's Letter (after Rembrandt) is a 1998 by Leon Kossoff, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
Leon Kossoff’s 1998 print reimagines an Old Master scene in fresh lines. It shows Bathsheba reading David’s letter, a nude figure in quiet focus. Kossoff made many etchings after Rembrandt, Poussin, and Veronese, but these weren’t copies—they were his own deep look. He kept reworking proofs, sometimes long after the prints were done, chasing the right feel through line and tone. Printmaking let him dig into drawing, not color. Next, check the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In 1998, Leon Kossoff created an etching titled *Bathsheba Reading David's Letter* after Rembrandt’s painting, part of a series where he explored Old Master works through printmaking. The composition strips away color to focus on line and form, reflecting Kossoff’s process of reworking proofs to refine the image. Produced in collaboration with Ann Dowker and later printed by Marc Balakjian at Studio Prints, the etching exemplifies Kossoff’s method of engaging deeply with the original artist’s technique. The work was not intended as a copy but as a reinterpretation to deepen understanding of…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Leon Kossoff (10 December 1926 – 4 July 2019) was a British figurative painter known for portraits, life drawings and cityscapes of London, England.
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