Lot Essay
In 1934, at the age of eight, Kossoff moved with his family from Bethnal Green to Hackney, in the East End of London. Their home was bombed during the Blitz of the Second World War, and his many depictions of Hackney reveal his affection for the area. They reflect his interest "in the city's infrastructure, the labyrinthine web that connects the city's surface to its bowels and all levels between" (A. Rose, Leon Kossoff, London 1995, p. 11).