**First Time At Auction**

Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000). "Judith" color lithograph, 1975. Edition 10 of 100. Signed with date in lower left of image. Hand-signed with edition and title in pencil below image. A striking lithograph by Leonard Baskin depicting the Hebrew heroin Judith - a daring and beautiful widow who beheaded the Assyrian general Holofernes, saving the Israeli people from oppression. Here she is posed in a way that mimics portrayals of "Perseus with the Head of Medusa" by Benvenuto Cellini and Antonio Canova; standing with one arm outstretched and holding the still bleeding head of Holofernes, while the other grasps her sword at her side. She turns her head to gaze at her trophy, leading the viewer's eye with her arm and sword to the gruesome reward. Brilliant hues of persimmon and lime nicely complement the female figure, while the head of her foe is rendered in black, contrasting with her brightness. A fabulous example of Baskin's skilled use of color and scale! Size of image: 26" W x 39" H (66 cm x 99.1 cm) Size of paper: 29.5" W x 41" H (74.9 cm x 104.1 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. 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.

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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#173315

Signed with date in lower left of image. Hand-signed with edition and title in pencil below image. Paper has been rolled for storage but can be easily held flat and framed. Some bending and folding to peripheries that does not affect image and small gray streak on face of Judith. Lithograph is otherwise in nice condition.