Leonard Baskin: Self-Portraits

The self-portrait was a major part of Baskin’s oeuvre. From the 1950s to his death in 2000, he chronicled his strengths and weaknesses, his caprices and cares with blistering honesty.

In truth, you can see Baskin’s facial features and body-type in many of his figures, including the Native American series, the Prophets, the Everymen − all art is in some sense a portrait of the artist − but his self-portraits are the tale of a very personal experience.

AET S, short for the Latin aetatis suae or “having passed the age of” can be read at the bottom of many of these portraits with the year giving immediacy to a specific moment in time.

Watercolors and Monotypes

Etchings, Woodcuts and Lithographs

Herb Fox Printwork

These prints are from a rarely-seen series of self portraits Baskin did at the Boston studio of master lithographer Herb Fox between 1973 and 1974.

Sculpture