Description: Pictor Ignotus from the portfolio Laus Pictorum1969 Wood engraving. Signed in pencil and numbered CX/CLXXV (110/175). Loose and in excellent condition. In printmaker Leonard Baskin’s portfolio Laus Pictorum. Portraits of Nineteenth-Century Artists, he includes the Pictor Ignotus, or the Latin term used for “unknown artist.” While this may refer to poet and innovative printmaker William Blake (English, 1757-1827), it could also reference Robert Browning’s (English, 1812-1889) poem, or simply be a stand-in for the many artists we still do not know the names of. The book Life of William Blake, “Pictor Ignotus.” was largely written by Alexander Gilchrist, who compiled materials and interviewed Blake’s surviving friends, and completed by artists Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Michael Rossetti in 1863. The book became the first text on Blake. The phrase was taken from the 1845 poem by Browning, part of which was used as an epigraph for Blake’s biography, marking him as an obscure artist during his lifetime: “The sanctuary’s gloom at least shall ward / Vain tongues from where my pictures stand apart.” Browning’s poem is seen through the eyes of an older artist who is jealous for the fame of someone younger. While Baskin may be directly alluding to these works, he might also be making a general statement for those skilled artists who remain unknown or obscure today through the silhouetted outline of a head full of abstracted lines, marks, and scratches.
Price: 200 USD
Location: South Hadley, Massachusetts
End Time: 2024-07-25T15:52:57.000Z
Shipping Cost: 15 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Artist: Leonard Baskin
Unit of Sale: Single Piece
Image Orientation: Portrait
Size: Small
Subject: Figures
Type: Print
Listed by: Dealer or Reseller
Year of Production: 1969
Theme: History
Features: Signed
Production Technique: Wood Engraving
Time Period Produced: 1960-1969
