Etching on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
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Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/leon-kossoff-1436" aria-label="More by Leon Kossoff" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Leon Kossoff</a>
Bathsheba Reading Davids Letter
Presented by Peter and Liz Goulds 1999
actions: postures and motions
adults
Bathsheba
Bible: Old Testament
domestic
domestic
female
fine art and design, named works
interior - non-specific
interiors
maid
nudes
objects
people
religion and belief
Rembrandt, painting, ‘Bathsheba Reading David’s Letter’
sitting
woman
work and occupations
<p>This print is one of many etchings executed by Leon Kossoff in response to, and literally in the presence of, oil paintings by old masters; in this case <i>Bathsheba With King David’s Letter</i>, 1654, by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-69), owned by the Louvre Museum, Paris. This print was never published as an edition; Tate owns the second trial proof.</p>
paper print etching
Bathsheba Reading David’s Letter
image: 453 × 425 mm
Presented by Peter and Liz Goulds 1999
<p>This <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>print</span></a> is one of many <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/etching" title="Glossary definition for 'Etching'"><span>etchings</span></a> executed by Leon Kossoff in response to, and literally in the presence of, oil <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>paintings</span></a> by old masters; in this case <i>Bathsheba With King David’s Letter</i>, 1654, by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-69), owned by the Louvre Museum, Paris. This print was never published as an <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/edition" title="Glossary definition for 'Edition'"><span>edition</span></a>; Tate owns the second trial <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/proof" title="Glossary definition for 'Proof'"><span>proof</span></a>. 
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<br/>Rembrandt’s <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> depicts a scene from the biblical story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba. Bathsheba sits naked while a servant washes her feet. To one side of her is her white shift, to the other her richly brocaded gold robe. She is holding the letter from David but is not reading it. Instead she stares beyond it, toward the servant washing her feet. Kossoff’s response to this painting follows the dark sensuality of its predecessor. The plate has been inked and then partially wiped, highlighting the protagonist and giving depth and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/t/tone" title="Glossary definition for 'Tone'"><span>tonal</span></a> variation to the work. <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drypoint" title="Glossary definition for 'Drypoint'"><span>Drypoint</span></a> has been used to emphasise certain lines and contours. The curves of Bathsheba’s body are offset by the vertical linearity of the surrounding space. Kossoff’s print does not compete with Rembrandt’s painting, nor does it seek to transcribe, copy or paraphrase it. Rather, it acknowledges the gulf that separates it from the pictorial culture of former times and reveals his desire to find points of contact with his forerunner. Kossoff has described the value of this kind of draughtsmanship as a means to building up an acquaintance with the subject of, in his words, ‘getting into’ a picture made by another artist until he feels free to ‘move about in its imaginative spaces’ (Kendall, p.19).
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<br/>Kossoff has taken inspiration from old master paintings at The National Gallery for most of his life, since first visiting it in the late 1940s. Indeed, while still a child, he had an early encounter with Rembrandt’s <i>A Woman Bathing in a Stream</i>, 1654. He has said that at the age of nine he felt that he could learn to draw from this painting. (Kendall p.12) Kossoff’s commitment to <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawing</span></a> has resulted in a decades-long dialogue with Rembrandt and others. For Kossoff, drawing is rooted in close observation of, and is a way of getting closer to, the subject being drawn. It involves going beyond the observed: forming a relation with the motif at a deeper level, a process involving the growth of understanding and sympathy. He sees the act of drawing as a reciprocal process; thus making graphic transcriptions of images by older artists is his way of bonding more closely with them, exploring their mysteries and celebrating their power.
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<br/>The etching plates were prepared by Ann Dowker, a London artist who later collaborated with Kossoff on biting the plates with acid, wiping them before printing, and making trial proofs. In some cases, areas of the etchings were washed with <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/aquatint" title="Glossary definition for 'Aquatint'"><span>aquatint</span></a>; in others, lines were emphasised by drypoint. The etchings were printed by Mark Balakjian at Studio Prints, London. 
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<br/><b>Further reading:</b>
<br/>Richard Kendall, <i>Drawn to Painting</i>, London 2000
<br/>Paul Moorhouse, <i>Leon Kossoff</i>, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1996, p.27-30
<br/><i>Leon Kossoff: Recent Paintings</i>, exhibition catalogue, British Council, Venice 1995
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<br/>Anna Bright
<br/>September 2005</p>

Summary
2005-12-22T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
actions: postures and motions adults Bathsheba Bible: Old Testament domestic domestic female fine art and design, named works interior - non-specific interiors maid nudes objects people religion and belief Rembrandt, painting, ‘Bathsheba Reading David’s Letter’ sitting woman work and occupations