Leonard Baskin (American, 1922 - 2000)

"Agonized", ca. 1965. Woodcut on paper, artist's monogram in lower left of image and artist signature and edition handwritten in pencil below image, 34/125, matted and framed under glass in silver tone metal frame, overall 32 ¼" x 37 ¼".
"Depicting the tortuous emotion of agony: a right-facing profile of a person overtaken by violent and energetic striations that spiral through their skull, all contrasted sharply by the dark background. Linear strokes extend horizontally back from the nose, mouth, and eyes, and are aggressively interrupted by thick, brutal swerves that almost appear to form an avian monster." (Artemis Gallery).

image 23 ⅛" x 29 ⅜"

Printmaker, sculptor and book designer. The year of his graduation (1949) Baskin began making prints. In 1950 he went to Paris and studied at the Acadamie de la Grande Chaumiare, and the following year to Florence to work at the Accademia di Belle Arti. Baskin's traditional training and his conviction that art should serve one's fellow man made him a rather unique figure during the 1950s, when abstraction and the expression of one's personal feelings held sway. Rather than experimenting with new formal structures, media, or techniques, Baskin developed a mastery of old techniques -woodcarving, woodcuts, etching, and lithography-and determined to use his work for social ends.
All of his figures represent "universal man" struggling with the problems of life and death, aspiration, immortality, and corruption. In his prints Baskin extends the psychological overtones of his sculpture even further, frequently producing powerful brooding, and even tortured, images. Much of the strength of these works derives from his bold cutting technique, which exploits the texture of the wood, and from his mastery of black and white.

Condition: Very good.