Baskin, Leonard. (1922–2000). Untitled Head, ca. 1965. Ink on paper. Signed "Baskin" at the lower right. 9.25 x 11 inches (23.7 x 28.3 cm), matted and framed to an overall size of 14.5 x 17 inches.
Widely considered one of the preeminent figures of 20th century American art, Leonard Baskin was creatively active for over five decades as a sculptor, printmaker, painter, illustrator, critic, book publisher, and educator, and his work resonates with a rare degree of visual, social, and intellectual intensity. Especially notable for his monumental woodcuts that brought figurative printmaking on par with the abstract expressionsists who were popular at the time, as a writer, he offered searing comments on important and often overlooked artists, and as a maker of books his Gehenna Press set the standard against which all fine press books are measured. Baskin received numerous honors, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Jewish Cultural Achievement Award and had many retrospective exhibitions, including those at the Smithsonian, the Albertina, and the Library of Congress.
Baskin, Leonard. (1922–2000). Untitled Head, ca. 1965. Ink on paper. Signed "Baskin" at the lower right. 9.25 x 11 inches (23.7 x 28.3 cm), matted and framed to an overall size of 14.5 x 17 inches.
Widely considered one of the preeminent figures of 20th century American art, Leonard Baskin was creatively active for over five decades as a sculptor, printmaker, painter, illustrator, critic, book publisher, and educator, and his work resonates with a rare degree of visual, social, and intellectual intensity. Especially notable for his monumental woodcuts that brought figurative printmaking on par with the abstract expressionsists who were popular at the time, as a writer, he offered searing comments on important and often overlooked artists, and as a maker of books his Gehenna Press set the standard against which all fine press books are measured. Baskin received numerous honors, among them a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Jewish Cultural Achievement Award and had many retrospective exhibitions, including those at the Smithsonian, the Albertina, and the Library of Congress.