Arguments in favor of zoos—that they preserve and provide opportunities for researching “at risk” species, compensate for diminishing natural habitats, and educate new generations about the diversity of life—always come up against what many consider their inherent cruelty as animal prisons in which every sentence is one of life. Leslie Baum’s recent oil paintings and watercolors take up the subject with a lissome touch, hinting at the tawdry underside of what appear to be bucolic scenes. Baum begins by taking photographs and sometimes making drawings on site, creating disembodied vignettes of