Self-Portrait as a Priest 1952

Leonard Baskin made this self-portrait as a priest as a woodcut, so he really had to commit to each mark. Carving away at the block is subtractive, like whittling away at the truth until you find something sharp and real. The stark black ink against the bare paper feels weighty, almost like the judgement this guy is giving me with that side-eye. Look how the lines around his eye are so scratchy and anxious compared to the smooth, confident cut of his jaw. Is he questioning his own authority, or is he just tired of hearing confessions all day? I love how Baskin doesn't hide the wood grain, it gives the whole thing a handmade, kind of folksy feel. It reminds me a little of Käthe Kollwitz's prints – that same sense of humanism and social commentary, but with a bit more… attitude. Art’s always talking to each other. I think that’s why there’s so much room for us to talk about it too.