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Artist Jacob Landau’s work explored the basic themes of human existence and morality. While in Paris, Landau met printmaker Leonard Baskin, who taught him the medium of woodcuts. His first phase as a professional artist included illustrating books and magazines, and he won an award for his illustrations in Kipling’s "Jungle Book."
Growing up during the Great Depression and profoundly affected by the Holocaust, Landau grappled with humanity’s cruelty to each other. For Landau, the human figure was not only an object but also “a symbol expressive of our common predicament, of the beauty and horror of existence. . . . every emotion, trait, and fate can be conveyed through the body.”
Provocative and disturbing, challenging and seductive, his works bear witness to these injustices and attempt to uphold our moral accountability for these actions.