Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) Judith with the Head of Holofernes signed 'BASKIN' in the bronze (in the base) height 38 3/4 in. (98.4 cm) (with a painted wood sculpture stand (height 24 in.))

Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000)
Judith with the Head of Holofernessigned 'BASKIN' in the bronze (in the base)bronze with dark brown patina height 38 3/4 in. (98.4 cm)with a painted wood sculpture stand (height 24 in.)

LiteratureIrma B. Jaffe, The Sculpture of Leonard Baskin (New York: The Viking Press, 1980), p. 99, illustrated 61 a,b, and c, and listed under the works completed in 1972 (p.217).N.B.Baskin began sculpting wrapped figures in the late 1950s/early 1960s frequently as an expressive device for mourning. The figures were usually male, until 1969 when Baskin created Phaedra, his first important female wrapped figure in bronze. Baskin usually carved directly or worked in clay from his imagination without preparatory drawings or models. This changed when Baskin's wife Lisa thought to wrap herself in a sheet so that the artist could work out the composition. Lisa was the model for Phaedra and also for the sculpture at hand, Judith with the Head of Holofernes. It is interesting to note that Baskin used his own self-portrait for the head of Holofernes.This information is drawn from Irma Jaffe's monograph cited above.