Maria Sybilla Merian

This is a very fine portrait of 17th century artist and naturalist Maria Sybilla Merian by Leonard Baskin. Etching in colors, plate size 17 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches, published in 1969 in an edition of 90, cat: Fern & O'Sullivan- 550, pencil signed and numbered, framed. In the era of abstract expressionism, Leonard Baskin’s work was always representational, with a strong classical influence. He drew inspiration from many artists of the past, and in the 1950s and 1960s created series of portraits of the artists he admired.