Diego Lasansky

Diego Lasansky is a painter and printmaker. Prior to his formal college education, Diego Lasansky learned about artistic processes not only from his grandfather, Mauricio Lasansky, but also from his uncles, three of whom are professional artists, William, Leonardo, and Tomas Lasansky. Lasansky’s work is figurative, and, like his grandfather, tends to focus on subjects readily available to him—such as family members—and those of historical and personal significance. Early success came to Diego Lasansky in his series Portrait at Eighteen. This was a series of 50 intaglio self-portraits, all of which were distinguishable from the others. In 2015 the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art published a monograph on Lasansky.

I was honored by Diego’s gift, and I’m delighted to be in a position to share. Diego’s only request is that the receiving institutions find a home for this print in their permanent collection of art."

In 2014, Lasansky began work on an intaglio print depicting Martin Luther as Junker Jörg. The print depicts Luther as Junker Jörg (translated to Knight George), the persona he adopted during his stay at Wartburg Castle, where he translated the New Testament from Greek into German. In 2016, Lasansky gifted 40 original intaglio prints of Martin Luther to Wartburg College in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Each copy of Junker Jörg 1521 was created in Lasansky’s studio over a six-month period. The intaglio printmaking process involves etching and engraving on a flat piece of copper.

Diego Lasansky (born December 6, 1994, Iowa City, Iowa) is an American artist whose focus is on printmaking, painting, and drawing. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

One of his more recent portraits is of Martin Luther as Junker Jörg. This image of Martin Luther was created in the medium of intaglio printmaking and commemorates the 500th year anniversary of the Reformation. This portrait considers the figurative and formal elements of a portrait of Martin Luther prior to him assuming the identity or persona of Junker Jörg as he went into hiding.

I am delighted to have Mr. Diego Lasansky's Junker Jörg 1521 (2015) to add to our holdings. It recalls the central role of the Arts in sixteenth century Reformation. From Albrecht Durer's promotion of the Luther's reforming insight through the medium of woodcut prints to Luther's own writings of hymns to teach the people through music, the arts were a vehicle for the Reformation movement. Mr. Lasansky's work represents the continuing contribution of arts to the semper reformanda reality of the Church, even as his image of Luther in 1521 commemorates a central movement in Reformation.