Portrait of Moses Lasky

Roy W. Ragle

Roy Ragle had a successful career exhibiting his astonishingly detailed and very large woodcut portraits. His works were often mistakingly labelled as lithographs or etchings in exhibitions because no one believed that his fluid, spidery line work could come from the rigid, relief woodcut technique. His mastery of craft was matched by the psychological perception of his subjects, which more often than not included himself, as he visually described the harrowing affects of Crohn's disease on his physiognomy.

This large image is a portrait in woodcut of San Francisco print collector and lawyer, the late Moses Lasky who, in his long career, represented many high profile clients including Howard Hughs, J. Paul Getty, and the Oakland Raiders. He appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court 47 times and presented oral arguments in six of those cases. In a 1971 appearance before the Supreme Court, Lasky’s oral argument succeeded in changing several justices’ view of the case and relevant constitutional issue, an accomplishment so rare that it prompted a commentary piece in the Washington Post called, “The Impact of a Skillful Lawyer.”

In 1979, Lasky made headlines again when the New York Times and other national papers reported on a federal appeals court ruling upholding payment of a $1 million attorney fee to Lasky in a case that settled out of court. A San Francisco judge and former partner of Lasky’s once remarked that Lasky was “the best lawyer I will ever see in my lifetime.”

This impression is dedicated to Master Printer printer Jesus Romero who assisted in the printing of this image.