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Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000). "The Great Bird Man" woodcut, ca. 1963. Signed and titled in pencil below image. One of Leonard Baskin's impressively large woodcuts which are oftentimes referred to as "door prints" because of their size. The composition features a colossal hybrid figure with an avian head and a human body. Baskin was fascinated by raptors and created haunting images of human-bird figures like this example. His skill as an observer of nature as well as his penchant for eerie, nightmarish imagery informed these works. Simultaneously arresting and haunting, "The Great Bird Man" is a gripping portrayal of a winged hybrid creature set in a custom frame and hand signed by the legendary Leonard Baskin who was a creative force for more than five decades and created images of raptors and human-bird forms for several decades. Size (sight view): 62.5" L x 30" W (158.8 cm x 76.2 cm) Size (frame): 68.25" L x 37.25" W (173.4 cm x 94.6 cm)

Leonard Baskin was a 20th century "Renaissance Man" - a highly respected sculptor, printmaker, writer, and watercolorist. His prints included mythological, classical, and biblical scenes as well as portraits and floral studies. Baskin studied at Yale University from 1941 to 1943 and received his B.A. at the New School for Social Research in 1949. He also founded Gehenna Press which specialized in fine book production and taught printmaking and sculpture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts as well as Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts from 1953 until 1974. Baskin's artworks are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Vatican Museum, the Smithsonian Institute, the Tate Gallery in London, and other elite institutions. "Angel of Death" has been collected by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art among others (accession numbers 1971.300, 1971.25, and 1961-157-4 respectively). His noted public sculptural commissions include pieces for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial as well as the Holocaust Memorial in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Baskin also received many prestigious honors, such as a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gold Medal of the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Jewish Cultural Achievement Award. He was also honored with numerous retrospective exhibitions at institutions including the Smithsonian Museum, the Albertina Museum, and the Library of Congress.

Leonard Baskin's "The Great Bird Man" may also be found in the permanent collections of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (accession number 1971.26), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (accession number 2014-49-22), the Delaware Museum of Art (accession number 2009-50), and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (accession number 1996.155.4).

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#173151

Signed and titled in pencil below image. A very strong impression of this monumental woodcut. Has not been examined outside the frame. Appears to have some crease marks in areas as shown, and minor staining and a few small tears/losses in margins. Frame is also quite nice save some scuffs to wood and plexiglass. Fit with suspension wire.