Self-Portrait
1983
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color lithograph on Arches wove paper
Dimensions
image (irregular): 25.72 × 18.42 cm (10 1/8 × 7 1/4 in.) sheet: 34.61 × 31.43 cm (13 5/8 × 12 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Jay Finkel
Accession Number
2013.121.42
Art Historical Context
Leonard Baskin's *Self-Portrait* (3) is a striking color lithograph on Arches wove paper, premium French-made sheet prized by printmakers for its smooth texture and archival quality. Measuring just over 10 by 7 inches in its irregular image area, this intimate work invites close viewing, characteristic of Baskin's meticulous approach to printmaking. As a master of the medium, Baskin employed lithography—a planographic technique where images are drawn on stone or metal plates with greasy ink—to layer vibrant colors and fine details, achieving a painterly depth on paper. Created late in Baskin'...
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...