Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 17

Leonard Baskin
'Peter Breughel' Original Etching, Signed in Pencil

ca. 1960

About the Item

The present artwork is an original etching by American artist Leonard Baskin. Here, he presents a portrait of the Flemish Renaissance artist Peter Breughel the Elder in profile, executed after the engraving by Johannes Wierix published in 1572 by Volcxken Diericx and Hieronymus Cock. In the portrait, Baskin displays a love of line and texture, using the etching technique to exaggerate and draw attention to the wrinkles of the face, while leaving the hair and clothing like a study or sketch. Like in the work of contemporary artist Claude Weisbuch, the result for Baskin is an image that recalls the old masters and displays the mastery of contemporary printmakers, but that also places mid-century formal concerns at the forefront of portraiture and figuration. etching in black in on Rives paper 17.5 x 17.5 inches, plate 29.75 x 22 inches, sheet 33.5 x 25.88 inches, frame Entitled "Breughel" in pencil, lower left Edition 9/50 in pencil, lower center Signed in pencil, lower right "PB" in the plate, upper left "PB" in the plate, upper right (faint) Label for Irving Galleries, Milwaukee on reverse Label for David Barnett Gallery on reverse Framed behind glass in a distressed cassetta-style moulding Artwork in overall good condition; general toning to the paper; some scattered foxing; frame in good condition with some losses to finished surface revealing white ground Born in 1922 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Baskin was reared in Brooklyn, New York. The son of a Rabbi, Baskin was educated at a yeshiva (Jewish religious college), which had a profound effect on his aesthetic. Committed to art at an early age, Baskin had his first exhibition. of sculpture, at the Glickman Studio Gallery, New York, at the age of seventeen. He studied at Yale University from 1941 to 1943 and received his B.A. at the New School for Social Research in 1949. Baskin spent 1950 and 1951 abroad, studying in Paris and Florence. In 1953 he began teaching printmaking and sculpture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1974. It was while he was at Smith College that he founded Gehenna Press, a small private press specializing in fine book production. He moved to England in 1974 and stayed till 1983 when he returned to America.. These nine years were enormously productive and besides sculptures he created a fine selection of prints and paintings. Baskin became intrigued by Greek history, philosophy and mythology at an early age and this study inspired many of his sculptures and paintings. Other influences were early 20th century sculptors, notably Ernst Barlach Leonard Baskin was one of the universal artists of the 20th century. He was a sculptor of renown. He was a writer and illustrator of books ranging from the bible to children's' stories and natural history. He was a talented water-colourist and a superb, prolific print-maker. His prints ranged from woodcuts through lithography and etching; his subjects covered portraits, flower studies, biblical, classical and mythological scenes. Baskin’s sculpture, watercolors, and prints are in the permanent collections of most of the world's major art galleries and museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Vatican Museum, the Smithsonian Institute and the Tate Gallery in London. Among Baskin's many commissions are a bas relief he made for the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and the Holocaust Memorial statue erected on the site of the first Jewish cemetery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Baskin won many awards including the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, the Special Medal of Merit of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Design.
  • Creator:
    Leonard Baskin (1922-2000, American)
  • Creation Year:
    ca. 1960
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)Width: 25.88 in (65.74 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Artwork in overall good condition; general toning to the paper; some scattered foxing; frame in good condition with some losses to finished surface revealing white ground.
  • Gallery Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 11156c1stDibs: LU60536637582

More From This Seller

View All
'Portrait of a Young Woman' original Hollar engraving after Hans Holbein
By Wenceslaus Hollar
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In this print, Wenceslaus Hollar presents a portrait of an unidentified woman, copying a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger. The identity of the sitter is a mystery: formerly, the portrait was believed to be of Catherine of Aragon, and the National Portrait Gallery in London identifies her as Queen Mary I...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Engraving

'Portrait of Henrico van der Borcht, ' original W. Hollar engraving after Holbei
By Wenceslaus Hollar
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In this print, Wenceslaus Hollar presents a portrait of D. Henrico van der Borcht, copying a painting or drawing by Hans Holbein. Copying works of famous masters was a common task of...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Engraving

17th century engraving black and white portrait male subject beard hat European
By Wenceslaus Hollar
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Portrait of a Man" is an engraving after Hans Holbein by Wenceslaus von Prochna Hollar. It depicts a man in traditional dress for the mid-17th century: A flat hat, large shirt, and ...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Engraving

"Young Girl With Hat, " Victorian Portrait Etching signed Frederick M. Spiegle
By Frederick M. Spiegle
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Young Girl With Hat" is a classical Victorian portrait etching. It is signed in graphite in the lower right by the artist, F.M. Spiegle. It depicts a Victorian girl with curly hair ...
Category

1880s American Realist Portrait Prints

Materials

Etching, Paper

'Self Portrait 1974' original etching signed by Sandra Sweeney
By Sandra Sweeney
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Following in line with artists before her, like Rembrandt and van Gogh, Sandra Sweeny here presents a self portrait. The image is both direct and subtle not only in its handling of m...
Category

1970s Contemporary Portrait Prints

Materials

Paper, Etching

20th century aquatint etching figurative portrait ink unfinished female subject
By Moishe Smith
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Maria (Artist's Wife)" is an original etching by Moishe Smith, signed in the bottom right corner and numbered in the bottom left. The piece depicts a seated woman from the waist up,...
Category

1960s Post-Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper, Etching, Aquatint

You May Also Like

The Pig Killers, by David Deuchar after Ostade
By Adriaen van Ostade
Located in Middletown, NY
Deuchar, David (after van Ostade). Les paysans tuant un porc. Edinburgh: c1800. Etching on thin cream laid paper, 4 11/16 x 4 11/16 inches (117 x 117 mm), narrow margins. Horizontal edge tear extending approximately 1-inch into the image area at the center left sheet edge. Skinning at the bottom-center sheet edge, verso, and adhesive residue at the top two corners, verso. Etched by David Deuchar after van Ostade, from A Collection of Etchings After the Most Eminent Masters of the Dutch and Flemish Schools particularly Rembrandt, Ostade, Cornelius Bega and Van Vliet, Edinburgh: 22 December, 1803. "The pig killers is one of van Ostade’s most striking, both for its circular format and unusual lighting. Pictorial representations of pig slaughtering were known in medieval book illumination where they were incorporated into depictions of activities relating to the month of November or December. In this intimate, nocturnal scene, illuminated by torchlight, van Ostade combines coarse, barnyard realism with tender observation as a peasant family gathers round to witness the slaughter of a pig, which presumably will feed the large family during the long winter months. As the eldest son kneels on the animal, the farmer’s wife collects the blood in her long handled pan...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Etching

Three Grotesque Figures by David Deuchar after Ostade
By Adriaen van Ostade
Located in Middletown, NY
Deuchar, David (after van Ostade). Three Grotesque Figures. Edinburgh: 1800. Etching on extremely fine cream laid paper, 3 1/2 x 2 7/8 inches (87 x 60 mm), thread margins. Adhesive ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching

The School Master by David Deuchar after Ostade
By Adriaen van Ostade
Located in Middletown, NY
Deuchar, David (after van Ostade). The School Master. Edinburgh: c1800. Etching on cream wove paper, 5 5/8 x 4 1/2 inches (134 x 114 mm), trimmed at the platemark. Adhesive residue a...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching

Carolus de Mallery, by Lucas Vorsetman the Elder after van Dyck
By Rembrandt van Rijn
Located in Middletown, NY
An exalted portrait of fellow Flemish engraver and publisher Karel van Mallery. Lucas Vorsterman the Elder (after Anthony van Dyck). Carolus de Mallery, from Icones Principum Viror...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching

Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully
By (After) Frans Pourbus the Younger
Located in Middletown, NY
A portrait of Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully, the Ambassador from Henry IV of France to James I of England; by Gerard Edelinck, after Franz Pourbus the Younger Etching on fine ...
Category

Late 17th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching

Portrait of an infamous thief
By Abraham Bosse
Located in Middletown, NY
A fascinating image of a well-known theif robbing a merchant of goods held atop her head. Paris: circa 1670. Etching and engraving on cream laid paper, 6 3/4 x 4 15/16 inches (17...
Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Portrait Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Engraving, Etching

Recently Viewed

View All