Baskin, Lev Semenovich

Lev Semenovich Baskin was a Soviet graphic artist and illustrator. From 1927 to 1930, he studied at VKhUTEIN (Higher Art and Technical Institute) under the tutelage of the poster artist Dimitri Moor and the noted painter Sergei Gerasimov. Baskin also studied at the Moscow Polygraphic Institute from 1930 to ‘31. During his career he designed a number of political posters such as: “Those who disrupted the industrial financial plan were branded with shame” (with F. D. Konstantinov, 1931), “Greetings to the Congress of Soviet Writers” and “Our knowledge, our power, our life…” (both 1934), “Glory to the Heroes of the Patriotic War” (1941-‘42, a series), “Glory to the brave” (1958), “Everywhere let's master our country’s nature” (1960), and other titles. Baskin also designed portraits for the album "Young Masters of Arts" (1938). Starting around 1955, he worked in industrial graphics designing catalogs and informational materials. From 1956 to 1961 he was an illustrator for the Moscow newspaper “Gudok” (whistle). Baskin began to exhibit his work professionally starting in 1931. He participated in the Anti-Imperialist Exhibition (1931, Moscow), the Exhibition of Posters and Caricatures as part of the exhibit, Artists of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic over 15 Years held at the Russian Museum in Leningrad (1933), Ten Years Without Lenin on the Leninist Path (1934, Leningrad), the Exhibition of Young Artists (1934, Moscow), Exhibition-review of Works by Young Artists for the All-Union Congress of the Komsomol (1936, Moscow); Exhibition of Works by Young Artists (1938, Moscow), and the All-Union Exhibition of Young Artists dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Komsomol (1939, Moscow). Lev Semenovich Baskin was a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR.