Lot 734: Monumental Leonard Baskin Woodcut, Hydrogen Man

Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) woodcut on Japan paper, “Hydrogen Man,” 1954. A human figure with a missing right arm and visible veinous system stands and faces the viewer. Monogrammed in the block, lower left, and signed in pencil, lower right. Ref.: Fern/O’Sullivan 249. Housed in a modern wood frame with white mat. Sight: 66 in H x 36 1/2 in W. Frame: 76 in H x 43 in W. Note: “In 1954, the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb–the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States–was tested at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. That year, Baskin, who often explored the effects of mortality and destruction on the human form in his sculptures and works on paper, produced a monumental woodcut in response to this action, which generated vast and unanticipated radioactive contamination. The Hydrogen Man is an imposing figure that is, at the same time, mutilated and misshapen, composed of partial limbs and exposed blood vessels. Indeed, for Baskin, the human body was at once magnificent and deformed: ‘Our human frame, our gutted mansion, our enveloping sack of beef and ash is yet a glory.'” (Source: Museum of Modern Art, New York)

PROVENANCE: The estates of Walter and Dr. Mary Schatz, Nashville. 

CONDITION: Overall very good condition. Minor, likely inherent waviness to sheet. Not examined out of frame.