Leonard Baskin

Leonard Baskin was an American sculptor, draughtsman and graphic artist, as well as founder of the Gehenna Press (1942–2000). One of America's first fine arts presses, it went on to become "one of the most important and comprehensive art presses of the world", often featuring the work of celebrated poets, such as Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Anthony Hecht, and James Baldwin side by side with Baskin's bold, stark, energetic and often dramatic black-and-white prints. Called a "Sculptor of Stark Memorials" by the New York Times, Baskin is also known for his wood, limestone, bronze, and large-scale woodblock prints, which ranged from naturalistic to fanciful, and were frequently grotesque, featuring bloated figures or humans merging with animals. "His monumental bronze sculpture, The Funeral Cortege, graces the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C."

15 August 1922

Born on the same birth date (15 August 1922): Giorgos Mouzakis • Sabino Barinaga

Born on the same birth day (15 August): Debra Messing • Erik Schmidt (painter) • Gary Kubiak • Germán Caffa • Jimmy Webb • John Grubb • Judy Cassab • Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford • Rose Maddox • Scott Altman • Sean McAllister (footballer, born 1987) • Siobhan Chamberlain

Born in the same month (August 1922): Arthur Hill (Canadian actor) • Betsy Bloomingdale • Frank Stranahan • Fulton Mackay • Geoffrey Dutton • George Kell • Gertrude Himmelfarb • Jack Holland (rugby league) • Jean Darling • John Eisenhower • Kelly Freas • Philip Larkin • René Lévesque • Roy Tattersall