de Hooghe's Sibyl
1978
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching in black and red on Velin d'Arches wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 15.24 × 14.92 cm (6 × 5 7/8 in.) sheet: 38.1 × 28.26 cm (15 × 11 1/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Jay Finkel
Accession Number
2013.121.129
Art Historical Context
Leonard Baskin's *de Hooghe's Sibyl (1978) is a striking etching that captures the artist's fascination with classical mythology and historical artistic traditions. Baskin, a renowned Americanmaker and sculptor (1922–2000) associated with mid-20th-century figurative expressionism, often drew on ancient archetypes to explore the human condition. Here, the title nods to Romeyn de Hooghe, the 17th-century Dutch Baroque engraver known for his intricate, dramatic illustrations, suggesting Baskin's homage or reinterpretation of a prophetic Sibyl—a classical seeress symbolizing wisdom, prophecy, and ...
About the Artist
Leonard Baskin
Leonard Baskin (1922–2000) was a towering figure in American art, renowned for his monumental sculptures, powerful woodcuts, and intricate book illustrations that grappled with the human condition's darker facets. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to a family of rabbis, he moved to Brooklyn's Jewish Orthodox Williamsburg neighborhood at age seven. Vowing to become a sculptor at 15, Baskin apprent...