Label
This image is from a book illustrated by Baskin, entitled "The Five Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther)." "The Five Scrolls" is an important piece of literature in Jewish culture, and part of the writing of the third major section of the Hebrew Bible. These five short books are grouped together as part of Hebrew tradition. All five of these scrolls are traditionally read publicly in the synagogue over the course of the year, aligning with each one of the festivals within Jewish communities. "Esther" relates the story of a Hebrew woman in Persia who becomes queen and thwarts a genocide of her people. The story forms the core of the Jewish festival of Purim, during which it is read aloud twice: once in the evening and again the following morning.
A committed figurative artist, and the son and brother of rabbis, Baskin's work often focused on mortality, Judaism, the Holocaust, and other angst-ridden themes. Baskin held an allegiance to figurative work and respect for tradition, which was at odds with the abstract expressionist movement that dominated modern art for many decades of his life, and which he firmly rejected. He had a very unique and specific style in which he depicted people, often focusing on the darker side of the human condition; his figures lacking idealism.