Leonard Baskin’s surreal portraits combining the human and animal worlds have made him one of the artistic masters of his time. This watercolor was inspired by a series of works based on Sibyls, or prophets, that he completed in 1991 to accompany a book of poems by Ruth Fainlight. Baskin's interest in Greek history, philosophy, and mythology led him to include the Sibyl, the prophetic female from Greek mythology, in many of his sculptures and paintings. Birds were central to Baskin’s work throughout his career, appearing frequently, often as representatives from another plane. The bird imagery so predatory in his earlier work takes on a more complex spirituality in this series. Birds helped him understand the human race: noble and base, common and heroic, tender and brutish, vulnerable and ruthless. He loved the humanity of crows – outcast because of its scavenging ways, the crow stands in for the downtrodden, the common people who survive by their wits on society’s castoffs. Baskin’s bird artworks ranged from bold woodcuts to softer, brighter watercolor depictions such as this one.