3 OF 14

Ted Hughes

3 of 14 portraits of Ted Hughes

Photograph © National Portrait Gallery, London

Ted Hughes

by Leonard Baskin
bronze relief, 1978
33 1/2 in. x 22 1/2 in. (851 mm x 572 mm)
Purchased, 1994
Primary Collection
NPG 6259

Click on the links below to find out more:

Sitterback to top

Edward James ('Ted') Hughes (1930-1998), Poet Laureate. Sitter in 14 portraits.

Artistback to top

Leonard Baskin (1922-2000). Artist of 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

Appointed Poet Laureate in 1984, Ted Hughes's poems frequently dwell the violence of nature and animal life. Among his works are The Hawk in the Rain (1957) and Crow (1970), the translation, Tales from Ovid (1997) and numerous children's stories and plays. Hughes was married from 1956-63 to the American poet, Sylvia Plath, a relationship described in his Birthday Letters (1998). This bronze bas-relief of the poet was made by his friend and illustrator, the American artist Leonard Baskin. Hughes is shown with a minotaur, a lion, a pike and a crow, the last of which was a central symbol in his work, and one which was partly inspired by a meeting with Baskin.