Etching on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
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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>
A Woman Bathing in a Stream Hendrickje Stoffels
Presented by Peter and Liz Goulds 1999
actions: processes and functions
adults
bathing / swimming
fine art and design, named works
leisure and pastimes
objects
people
recreational activities
Rembrandt, painting, ‘A Woman Bathing in a Stream ...’
stream
washing / drying
water: inland
woman
<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>A Woman Bathing in a Stream (Hendrickje Stoffels?)</i>, 1654, by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-69), owned by the National Gallery, London. Tate owns the second trial proof, which is printed in black ink on white paper.</p>
paper print etching
1 June 2008 – 15 November 2008
2008-11-15
1 June 2008 – 15 November 2008
2008-11-15
2008-06-01
Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (Dublin, Ireland)
http://www.hughlane.ie
2008-06-01
Other Mens' Flowers
Loan-out
A Woman Bathing in a Stream (Hendrickje Stoffels)
image: 190 × 153 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>A Woman Bathing in a Stream (Hendrickje Stoffels?)</i>, 1654, by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-69), owned by the National Gallery, London. 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>, which is printed in black <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/i/ink" title="Glossary definition for 'Ink'"><span>ink</span></a> on white <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>.
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<br/>Rembrandt’s painting depicts a woman, at night, walking shin-deep in water. She is wearing a white undergown that is undone in a deep ‘v’ at the front and she is holding it up to her thighs to keep it dry. Behind and to her left is a sumptuous red robe that the woman has discarded and draped over a rock on the river bank. The body of the woman and her robe shine out in the dark <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a>. Kossoff’s response to this painting is spare and linear. The dark background of the original painting has been transformed into a much lighter, hatched suggestion of stream and trees. The plate has been partially wiped, leaving a soft grey <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/patina" title="Glossary definition for 'Patina'"><span>patina</span></a> to give <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> depth and variation to the work. 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 <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. 
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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: processes and functions adults bathing / swimming fine art and design, named works leisure and pastimes objects people recreational activities Rembrandt, painting, ‘A Woman Bathing in a Stream ...’ stream washing / drying water: inland woman