Etching on paper
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<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>
Triumph Pan 1
Presented by Peter and Liz Goulds 1999
adults
animals: mammals
Bacchanalia
classical myths: events, themes
dance
female
fine art and design, named works
goat
group
groups
landscape
leisure and pastimes
male
man
music and entertainment
nudes
objects
people
Poussin, Nicolas, painting, ‘The Triumph of Pan’
Poussin, Nicolas, paintings
religion and belief
woman
wooded
<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>The Triumph of Pan</i>, 1635-6, by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), owned by the National Gallery, London. Tate owns four prints by Kossoff after this Poussin painting (Tate P11730-3) as well as two prints after a preparatory drawing by Poussin for the same painting (Tate P11734-5). Kossoff’s ability to explore a number of separate responses while making drawings and prints from a single subject is illustrated in these etchings. This version was printed in an edition of twenty with ten artist’s proofs; Tate owns number three of the artist’s proofs.</p>
paper print etching
The Triumph of Pan (1)
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>The Triumph of Pan</i>, 1635-6, by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), owned by the National Gallery, London. Tate owns four prints by Kossoff after this Poussin painting (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kossoff-the-triumph-of-pan-1-p11730" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P11730</span></a>-3) as well as two prints after a preparatory <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> by Poussin for the same painting (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/kossoff-the-triumph-of-pan-from-a-poussin-drawing-1-p11734" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P11734</span></a>-5). Kossoff’s ability to explore a number of separate responses while making drawings and prints from a single subject is illustrated in these etchings.  This version was printed in 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> of twenty with ten artist’s proofs; Tate owns number three of the artist’s proofs.
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<br/>The Poussin painting depicts men, women, children and satyrs enmeshed in a riotous embrace, accompanied by a profusion of animals, masks, food, drink and flowers. The scene represents the triumph, or worship, of the armless bust of a horned deity mounted on a pillar, his face smeared red with the juice of boiled ivy stems. Kossoff’s response to this painting was to cut back the landscape setting and most of the detail. He focused on the writhing mass of humanity and stressed the merged identity of bodily forms with earth, rocks and foliage. This etching is lightly rendered in black in on cream <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/paper" title="Glossary definition for 'Paper'"><span>paper</span></a>. This is the most <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/abstract-art" title="Glossary definition for 'Abstract art'"><span>abstracted</span></a> version of Kossoff’s etchings after <i>The Triumph of Pan</i>, with the figures being suggested by little more than curved lines that are contrasted with the straight forms of the landscape around them. A consequence of the printing process is that the image is a reverse of Poussin’s original. Kossoff’s print does not compete with Poussin’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 Poussin. Kossoff has described the value of this kind of draughtsmanship as a means to building up an acquaintance with the subject of a picture made by another artist until he feels free to ‘move about in its imaginative spaces’ (Kendall, p.19).
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<p>Kossoff has described the moment of intense elation, which occurred some forty years ago, when he first established a vital connection with Poussin’s art. As a youth and then as a student in London, he had become familiar with the rich historical collections of the National Gallery. One day he had a transformative experience while looking at Poussin’s <i>Cephalus and Aurora</i>, 1629-30 (National Gallery, London):</p>
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<p>It seemed as though I was experiencing the work for the first time. I suppose there is a difference between looking and experiencing. Paintings of this quality, in which the subject is endlessly glowing with luminosity, can, in an unexpected moment, surprise the viewer, revealing unexplored areas of self.</p>
<p align="right">(Kendall, p.19)</p>
<p>
<br/>The recent prints made by Kossoff after paintings by Poussin therefore emerge from almost half a century of involvement in with Poussin’s oeuvre, initially stimulated by this moment of insight at the National Gallery but more immediately by the 1995 retrospective exhibition, <i>Nicolas Poussin 1594-1665</i>, at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
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<p>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 <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>. The etchings were printed by Mark Balakjian at Studio Prints, London. </p>
<p>
<br/><b>Further reading:</b>
<br/>Richard Kendall, <i>Drawn to Painting</i>, London 2000, pp.35, 37, 39, reproduced p.87 in colour
<br/>Paul Moorhouse, <i>Leon Kossoff</i>, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1996, pp.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
adults animals: mammals Bacchanalia classical myths: events, themes dance female fine art and design, named works goat group groups landscape leisure and pastimes male man music and entertainment nudes objects people Poussin, Nicolas, paintings Poussin, Nicolas, painting, ‘The Triumph of Pan’ religion and belief woman wooded