Stag, from Flaubert's "St. Julien the Hospitaller" 1957

This is Leonard Baskin’s Stag, from Flaubert's "St. Julien the Hospitaller,” made using pen and ink on paper. The thin, wiry lines scratch and crawl across the page, suggesting the stag’s vulnerability. It is caught, trapped in a gesture. Notice how the body is awkwardly positioned, almost upside down, with its legs flailing. The ink is dark and dense in the mane, a thick contrast to the paleness of the paper. That dark patch is a concentration of graphic energy, a focal point from which the rest of the animal seems to unravel. Baskin was interested in representing the human, or animal, condition as one of tragic struggle. Elsewhere in his oeuvre, he often depicted birds, which he saw as metaphors for the soul. This poor stag, though, seems to embody a more earthly struggle – a fight for survival depicted with unflinching honesty. It reminds me of some of Goya’s more despairing etchings. Anyway, isn’t art all about wrestling with the big questions?