Eakins
c. 1962
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut in black on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 57.47 × 34.93 cm (22 5/8 × 13 3/4 in.) sheet: 76.52 × 55.88 cm (30 1/8 × 22 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Jay Finkel
Accession Number
2013.121.18
Art Historical Context
Leonard Baskin's *Eakins* (c. 1962) is a striking woodcut portrait honoring Thomas Eakins, the pioneering 19th-century American realist painter known for his unflinching depictions of the human form. Baskin, a prominent mid-20th-century American printmaker, sculptor, and illustrator, created this monumental image during a period when he championed humanistic themes and revived traditional print techniques. Measuring nearly 23 by 14 inches, the boldly carved black lines on wove paper evoke Eakins' intense gaze and rugged features, capturing the essence of his controversial yet influential legac...
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...