Leonard Baskin (1922 – 2000) was fine artist, illustrator, writer and teacher. He strongly thought figurative art was superior, and this belief can be seen in his work throughout his career.
Baskin was born in New Jersey, and at age seven he moved to New York with his family. Wanting to be a sculptor, Baskin studied at the New York University School of Architecture and Applied Arts from 1939 to 1941. In 1941, he won a scholarship to Yale university and studied there for two years. While he was there, he discovered and was deeply impressed by the illustrated books of William Blake. Baskin decided to learn to print and make his own books, and subsequently founded Gehenna Press in 1942, one of the first fine art presses in the US. His press printed over 100 books and ran until Baskin’s passing in 2000.
Baskin served in the US Navy at the end World War Two, and then moved to the Merchant Navy. Upon his return, he studied at The New School for Social Research, obtaining his B.A. in 1949.
From 1953 until 1974, Baskin taught printmaking and sculpture at Smith College. During this time (1956), his first solo exhibition was at the Boris Mirski Gallery in Boston.
In 1974, Baskin moved to Britain to work with his friend Ted Hughes. They collaborated on several works, including A Primer of Birds (1981).
In 1984, Baskin returned to the US and taught at Hampshire College (Massachusetts).
Many of Baskin’s works are now owned by many major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art, etc.
Baskin passed away in 2000, and the Art Institute of Portland has a memorial to him.
Cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Baskin
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/leonard-baskin-700
Coralie,
Nice work on Schaeffer and Baskin! I also appreciate and admire Schaeffer’s loose painterly style and his amazing capture of light… beautiful. Baskin is also a personal favourite of mine since discovering his work as a student myself. Good research and personal insight.
Jeff