Leonard Baskin AET 42
1962
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut, printed in green and black, on Japanese paper
Dimensions
image: 81.28 × 60.01 cm (32 × 23 5/8 in.) sheet: 88.27 × 61.6 cm (34 3/4 × 24 1/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Jay Finkel
Accession Number
2013.121.51
Art Historical Context
Leonard Baskin's *AET 42* (1962) is a commanding woodcut print that captures the artist's profound engagement with the human form and existential themes. Measuring an impressive 32 × 23⅝ inches (image), this work from the National Gallery of Art's collection—generously gifted by Jay Finkel—exemplifies Baskin's mid-century mastery of printmaking. As a key figure in American figurative art, Baskin drew from German Expressionism and Renaissance traditions, infusing his prints with monumental scale and raw emotional power. Crafted as a color woodcut in green and black on delicate Japanese paper, ...
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...