The Flower and Fruit Stalls, Embankment 1995 1995

The Flower and Fruit Stalls, Embankment 1995 is a large oil painting on hardboard by the British painter and draughtsman Leon Kossoff. In the foreground five figures move either away from or towards Embankment Underground station in London. A female figure in an orange dress is prominent among this group and walks purposefully from the centre of the composition to the right of the foreground. She passes another, less sharply delineated female figure who is walking towards the station. One male figure painted in white and blue moves out of the composition at the extreme left, while a second man outlined heavily in dark blue paint pauses to glance at a flower stand. A woman in a pale blue dress crouches to reach some of the flowers in front of the stand and another figure, possibly the stall’s vendor, stands behind her in the middle ground. What appear to be four parasols in brighter colours are spaced horizontally across the middle of the composition. The background is peopled by shadowy, rapidly painted figures who blend with the architectural features of the stands and the station. The sharply angled awnings of the fruit stand and the station give a sense of depth, and mauves, blues, pinks and creams dominate the composition, punctuated by oranges and yellows.