Cheshire Antiques Consultant Ltd

Description

Expressionist British School | Heavy Impasto | After Leon Kossoff
“Cocks Fighting” — Original Oil Painting by B.K. Gallie (c. 1965)
Subject & Medium
A striking c.1965 mid-20th-century Expressionist ornithology oil painting on board titled “Cocks Fighting”, labelled verso by B.K. Gallie of Gloucestershire.
Two roosters clash in a burst of motion and colour — a timeless symbol of vitality, strength, and rivalry. Executed in thick, sculptural layers of oil on artist’s board (Dalex Board for Oils, England), the surface is richly textured with palette-knife gestures and sweeping, confident strokes.
The painting’s raw physicality and emotional force align it with the British Expressionist movement and the post-war School of London, recalling the work of Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach.
Composition & Technique
Heavy impasto / sculptural paint surface: Gallie, like Kossoff, treats paint as a substance to model and carve. The plumage and energy of the birds are built from dense, tactile strokes — a sculptural surface that catches light and shadow.
Expressive gesture over realism: Form yields to emotion. Each line and sweep conveys urgency and tension rather than anatomical precision — pure vitality on the edge of abstraction.
Limited palette, energetic neutrals: A cool grey ground contrasts with the fierce reds and yellows of the combs, heightening the dramatic struggle.
Dynamic, almost violent energy: The brushwork mirrors the subject itself — tense, alive, and combative — echoing Kossoff’s muscular, convulsive rhythm.
About Leon Kossoff (1926–2019)
Leon Kossoff was one of Britain’s foremost post-war painters and a key figure in the School of London, alongside Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, and Frank Auerbach.
Renowned for his thick impasto and emotional immediacy, Kossoff’s art explores the struggle between perception and feeling. His heavily worked surfaces give form to the pulse of lived experience — an approach that clearly informs Gallie’s handling in “Cocks Fighting.”
Kossoff’s works are held by major institutions worldwide, including the Tate, MoMA, and LACMA, and continue to inspire generations of painters with their expressive power and physical intensity.
Signature & Label
Unsigned.
Verso bears the printed artist’s address label reading:
B.K. Gallie, Honeysuckle Cottage, Uley, Dursley, Glos.
This includes the artist’s full name and address in Gloucestershire, confirming direct authorship and supporting provenance integrity. The label also shows the original pre-decimal price (£8 8s), firmly placing it in the early to mid-1960s.
Framing
Presented in a recently fitted Larson Juhl gilt moulded frame, with museum-quality protective AR70 glass cover that complements the work’s mid-century character.
Framed Dimensions:
Height: 58.5 cm × Width: 68 cm × Depth: 2.5 cm
Provenance
Artist’s own address label verso, reading “B.K. Gallie, Honeysuckle Cottage, Uley, Dursley, Glos.”
Painted on Daler artist board manufactured by Daler Mountboards, Wareham, Dorset — a respected British maker of professional painting supports.
Acquired from a reputable art dealer in the Eastern Shires.
Subsequently curated by Cheshire Antiques Consultant Ltd, specialists in British modernist and provincial works.
Exhibited at the Famous Lord Hill Museum in a survey of post-war British expressionism.
Later held in a private Gloucestershire collection.
This strong and traceable provenance links the work directly to the artist, the material manufacturer, regional art dealers, and museum exhibition history — reinforcing both authenticity and significance.
Highlights
Expressive energy: every inch of the surface pulses with motion and colour.
Textural depth: thick, tactile paintwork that shifts beautifully under changing light.
Art-historical resonance: evokes the dynamic style of Leon Kossoff and the School of London.
Conversation piece: a commanding focal point for any interior or gallery wall.
This is a painting that rewards close viewing — visceral, poetic, and true to the spirit of post-war expressionism.
Condition
Good vintage condition overall. Paint layers are stable and the surface presents beautifully, with only minor age-related wear and some craquelure consistent with a work of this period. The frame has small, unobtrusive scuffs but remains solid and display-ready.
Please review all photographs for an accurate visual reference.
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