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Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was an American artist. He is best known for his works of
social realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...
, his
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...
political views, and his series of
lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical infor ...
s published as ''The Shape of Content''.


Biography

Shahn was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, then part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
, to
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
parents Joshua Hessel and Gittel (Lieberman) Shan. His father was exiled to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...
for possible revolutionary activities in 1902, at which point Shahn, his mother, and two younger siblings moved to Vilkomir (
Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; pl, Wiłkomierz) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius, with a population of about 20,000. Etymology and variant names The city took its original name ''Vilkmergė'' from th ...
). In 1906, the family immigrated to the United States where they rejoined Hessel, a carpenter, who had fled Siberia and emigrated to the US by way of South Africa. They settled in the
Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...
section of
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...
, where two more siblings were born. His younger brother drowned at age 17.Berger, Maurice
New York
." Jewish Museum (New York), 2004.
Shahn began his path to becoming an artist in New York, where he was first trained as a
lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
. Shahn's early experiences with
lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
and graphic design are apparent in his later prints and paintings which often include the combination of text and image. Shahn's primary medium was
egg tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings don ...
, popular among social realists. Although Shahn attended
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...
as a biology student in 1919, he went on to pursue art at
City College City college may refer to: In the United States * Community college, a type of educational institution sometimes called a ''junior college'' or a ''city college'' in the United States * City College of New York ** 137th Street – City College (IR ...
in 1921 and then at the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...
. After his marriage to Tillie Goldstein in 1924, the two traveled through
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
and then to Europe, where he made "the traditional artist pilgrimage." There he studied great European artists such as
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...
,
Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted ...
, Georges Rouault,
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is ...
and
Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
. Contemporaries who would make a profound impact on Shahn's work and career include artists
Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work fro ...
,
Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
and Jean Charlot. Shahn was dissatisfied with the work inspired by his travels, claiming that the pieces were unoriginal. He eventually outgrew his pursuit of European
modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...
, and redirected his efforts toward a realist style which he used to contribute to social dialogue.Kao, Deborah
Ben Shahn's New York: The Photographs of Modern Times
." Harvard University Art Museums, February 2000.
The 23
gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache ...
paintings of the trials of Sacco and Vanzetti communicated the political concerns of his time, rejecting academic prescriptions for subject matter. ''
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti ''The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti'' is a 1932 painting series by Ben Shahn consisting of 32 gouache paintings of Sacco and Vanzetti . Creation Artist Ben Shahn had always wanted to be alive during a time of greatness, such as the crucif ...
'' was exhibited in 1932 and received acclaim from both the public and critics. This series gave Shahn the confidence to cultivate his personal style, regardless of society’s art standards.


Work during the Great Depression

Shahn's subsequent series of California labor leader
Tom Mooney Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 – March 6, 1942) was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that ...
won him the recognition of Diego Rivera. In May and June 1933, he served as an assistant to Diego Rivera while Rivera executed the
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
mural. Shahn had a role in fanning the controversy, by circulating a petition among the workers. Also during this period, Shahn met photojournalist Bernarda Bryson, who would later become his second wife. Although this marriage was successful, the mural, his 1934 project for the
Public Works of Art Project The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) was a New Deal program designed to employ artists that operated from 1933 to 1934. The program was headed by Edward Bruce, under the United States Treasury Department with funding from the Civil Works Admi ...
and proposal for the Municipal Art Commission were all failures. Fortunately, in 1935, Shahn was recommended by
Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work fro ...
, a friend and former roommate, to
Roy Stryker Roy Emerson Stryker (November 5, 1893 – September 27, 1975) was an American economist, government official, and photographer. He headed the Information Division of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the Great Depression, and launch ...
to join the photographic group at the
Resettlement Administration The Resettlement Administration (RA) was a New Deal U.S. federal agency created May 1, 1935. It relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. On September 1, 1937, it was succeeded by the Farm Se ...
(RA). As a member of the group, Shahn roamed and documented the
American south The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
together with his colleagues
Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work fro ...
and
Dorothea Lange Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Great Depression, Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administratio ...
. Like his earlier photography of New York City, Shahn's photography for the RA and its successor, the Farm Security Administration, can be viewed as social-documentary. Similarly, Shahn’s
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
art for the RA and FSA exposed American living and working conditions. He also worked for these agencies as a graphic artist and painter. Shahn's fresco mural for the school of Jersey Homesteads is among his most famous works, but the government also hired Shahn to execute the Bronx Central Annex Post Office (1939) and
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
(1942) murals. For the 10 panels of "The Meaning of Social Security" mural at the Social Security Administration Building, Shahn was assisted by John Ormai; it is presently cared for by the
GSA GSA may refer to: Commerce * Citroën GSA, a French automobile * GameSpy Arcade, a utility for use with network computer games * General sales agent, an airline sales representative * Global mobile Suppliers Association, a not-for-profit industry ...
Fine Art Collection. In 1939, Shahn and his wife produced a set of 13 murals inspired by
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...
's poem ''I See America Working'' and installed at the United States Post Office-Bronx Central Annex. Curator Susan Edwards recognizes the influence of this art on the public consciousness, writing, "The Roosevelt administration believed uchimages were useful for persuading not only voters but members of Congress to support federal relief and recovery programs … The art he made for the federal government affirms both his own legacy and that of the New Deal."


World War II and beyond

During the war years of 1942–43, Shahn worked for the Office of War Information (OWI), but his pieces lacked the preferred patriotism of the day and only two of his posters were published. His art's
anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...
sentiment found other forms of expression in a series of paintings from 1944 to 1945, such as ''Death on the Beach'', which depicts the desolation and loneliness of war. In 1945 he painted ''Liberation'' about the
Liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi G ...
which depicts children playing in the rubble. He also did a series, called ''Lucky Dragon'', about the Daigo Fukuryū Maru (literally, ''Lucky Dragon No. 5''), the Japanese fishing boat caught in the
Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese: , , meaning "coconut place"), sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946 is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. After the Sec ...
hydrogen bomb blast. As of 2012, an important part of this series is in the collections of Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art. In 1947 he directed a summer session of the
School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...
at the Berkshire Museum in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all ...
.
Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...
selected Shahn's work, including his October 1935 photograph ''The family of a Resettlement Administration client in the doorway of their home,
Boone County, Arkansas Boone County is located in the U.S. state of Arkansas, along the Missouri border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,373. The county seat is Harrison. It is Arkansas's 62nd county, formed on April 9, 1869. Boone County is part of t ...
'', for MoMA's world-touring
The Family of Man ''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) Department of Photography. According to Steichen, the exhibitio ...
which was seen by 9 million visitors. Only the huddled figure of the woman on the right hand half of Shahn's 35mm frame was blown up for the display. From 1961 to 1967, Shahn worked on the stained glass at Temple Beth Zion, a Buffalo, NY synagogue designed by Harrison & Abramovitz. Shahn also began to act as a commercial artist for CBS, ''Time'', ''Fortune'' and '' Harper's''. His portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. appeared on the 19 March 1965 cover of ''Time''. Despite Shahn's growing popularity, he only accepted commissions which he felt were of personal or social value. By the mid-1950s, Shahn's accomplishments had reached such a height that he was sent, along with
Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter ...
, to represent the United States at the 1954
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
. He was also elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...
, the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the Academia dell' Arte e del Disegno in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
. The Art Directors Club Hall of Fame recognizes him as "one of the greatest masters of the twentieth century. Honors, books, and gallery retrospectives continue to rekindle interest in his work...years after his death." The artist was especially active as an academic in the last two decades of his life. He received honorary doctorates from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...
and
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, and joined Harvard as a Charles Eliot Norton professor in 1956. His published writings, including ''The Biography of Painting'' (1956) and ''The Shape of Content'' (1960), became influential works in the art world. After his death,
William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...
composed "In Praise of Shahn", a modern
canticle A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Catholic Church ...
for orchestra, first performed January 29, 1970, by the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
,
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
conducting.


Themes

Ben Shahn’s social-realist vision informed his approach to art. Shahn’s examination of the status quo inspired his creative process. Although he often explored polemic themes of modern urban life, organized labor, immigration and injustice, he did so while maintaining a compassionate tone. Shahn identified himself as a communicative artist. He challenged the esoteric pretensions of art, which he believed disconnect artists and their work from the public. As an alternative, he proposed an intimate and mutually beneficial relationship between artist and audience. Shahn defended his choice to employ pictorial realities, rather than abstract forms. According to Shahn, known forms allow the artist "to discover new truths about man and to reaffirm that his life is significant." References to allegory,
the Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...
, humanistic content, childhood, science, music and the commonplace are other motifs Shahn draws upon to make the universal personal for his viewers. Wit, candor and sentimentality give his images poignancy. By evoking dynamism, Shahn intended to inspire social change. Shahn stressed that in art, as in life, the combination of opposing orders is vital for progress. His hope for a unity among the diverse peoples of the United States relates to his interest in fusing different visual vocabularies.


Style

Shahn mixed different
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...
s of art. His body of art is distinctive for its lack of traditional
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
s,
still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s, and
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...
s. Shahn used both expressive and precise visual languages, which he united through the consistency of his authoritative line. His background in
lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...
contributed to his devotion to detail Shahn is also noted for his use of unique symbolism, which is often compared to the imagery in Paul Klee's drawings. While Shahn's "love for exactitude" is apparent in his graphics, so too is his creativity. In fact, many of his paintings are inventive adaptations of his photography. Evocative juxtapositions characterize his aesthetic. He intentionally paired contrasting scales, colors, and images together to create tension. One signature example is seen in his play between industrial coolness and warm human portrayals. ''Handball'' demonstrates his "use of architectural settings as both psychological foil to human figures and as expressive abstract pattern," and is also an example of his use of photographs as source material. His c.1933 untitled Gelatin silver print held in the Fogg Art Museum (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gift of Mrs. Bernarda B. Shahn) of handball players was made around 1933 just after he took up photography and before his period as a FSA photographer. It has striking symmetry rarely achieved amongst the random events of the street. To make the painting of the scene six years later, Shahn transcribed the positions of the handball players including the photographic accident of a tensed arm and leg that appears to sprout from the bomber jacket of the man at left, but he spreads the men away from each other and expands the frame to break the symmetry and to include a brownstone building over the top of the wall, and to encompass also a billboard at left. Gestures and poses are exaggerated and a hand is added to the figure at right which is cropped in the photograph. The line markings on the wall are made to converge to further stretch the space. In a 1957 interview, Shahn described his painting as being about “social relationships”. Shahn's art is striking but also introspective. He often captured figures engrossed in their own worlds. Many of his photographs were taken spontaneously, without the subject's notice. To achieve these candid shots Shahn often used a right-angle viewfinder on his 35mm Leica; he can be seen using it in a window reflection in an untitled picture from his 1938 series made in Circleville, Ohio.
United States Resettlement Administration The Resettlement Administration (RA) was a New Deal U.S. federal agency created May 1, 1935. It relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. On September 1, 1937, it was succeeded by the Farm Sec ...
, Shahn, B., photographer. (1938). Circleville Circleville. Ohio United States, 1938. ummer hotographRetrieved from the Library of Congress

Although he used many mediums, his pieces are consistently thoughtful and playful.


Jersey Homesteads mural

The
Resettlement Administration The Resettlement Administration (RA) was a New Deal U.S. federal agency created May 1, 1935. It relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. On September 1, 1937, it was succeeded by the Farm Se ...
employed Shahn to paint a mural for the school of Roosevelt, New Jersey, Jersey Homesteads (later renamed Roosevelt), a
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
town initially planned to be a community for Jewish garment workers. Shahn's move to the settlement demonstrates his dedication to the project as does his mural's compelling depiction of the town's founding. Three panels compose the mural. According to art historian Diana L. Linden, the panels' sequence relates to that of the
Haggadah The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
, the Jewish
Passover Seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebre ...
text which follows a narrative of
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, deliverance and redemption. More specifically, Shahn’s mural depicts immigrants' struggle and advancement in the United States. The first panel shows the
antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...
and
xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
obstacles American immigrants faced. During the global Depression, citizens of the United States struggled for their livelihoods. Because foreigners represented competition for employment, they were especially unwelcome. National immigration quotas also reflected the strained foreign relations of the United States at a time when
fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
,
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
, and
communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...
were on the rise. To illustrate the political and social adversary, Shahn incorporated loaded iconography: Nazi soldiers, anti-Jewish signs and the executed Italian anarchists, Sacco and Vanzetti. Below, Shahn's mother and
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...
lead immigrants on a gangplank situated by the
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 m ...
registry center and the Statue of Liberty. This section demonstrates the immigrants' heroic emergence in the United States. The middle panel describes the poor living conditions awaiting immigrants after their arrival. On the right, Shahn depicts the inhuman labor situation in the form of "lightless sweatshops ... tedious and backbreaking work with outmoded tools." The crowd in the center of the composition represents labor unions and workers' reform efforts. Here, a figure resembling labor leader John L. Lewis protests in front of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, where a devastating fire occurred and the movement for the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) began. The lower right passageway marked ILGWU symbolizes a new and hopeful path, in the United States, paved by unionized labor. In the last panel, the unions and the New Deal unite to create the
blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited numbe ...
for the town of the Jersey Homesteads. Various figures of social progress such as Sidney Hillman and Heywood Broun gather around the drafting table. Above them are images of the purposed
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
farm and factory along with a campaign poster of Roosevelt, after whom the town was eventually named. Shahn’s biographer Soby notes "the composition of the mural at Roosevelt follows the undulant principle Shahn had learned from
Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
: deep recession of space alternating with human and architectural details projected forward." Moreover, the montage effectively intimates the amalgamation of peoples and cultures populating the urban landscape in the early 20th century. Multiple layers and perspectives fuse together to portray a complex industrialized system. Still, the mural maintains a sense of humanity; Shahn gives his figures a monumental quality through volume and scale. The urban architecture does not dwarf the people; instead, they work with the surroundings to build their own structure. Shahn captured the urgency for activism and reform, by showing gestures and mid-steps and freezing all the subjects in motion. This pictorial incorporation of "athletic pose and evocative asymmetry of architectural detail" is a Shahn trademark. While exemplifying his visual and social concerns, the mural characterizes the general issues of Shahn's milieu. The arriccio,
sinopia Sinopia (also known as sinoper, named after the now Turkish city Sinop) is a dark reddish-brown natural earth pigment, whose reddish colour comes from hematite, a dehydrated form of iron oxide. It was widely used in Classical Antiquity and t ...
drawings of the fresco for Ben Shahn's Jersey Homesteads mural ere removed from its original community center location in Roosevelt and is now permanently installed in a custom-designed gallery on the second floor of the United States Post Office and Courthouse at in
Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...
. The gallery adjoins the adjacent annex, the
Mitchell H. Cohen Mitchell Harry Cohen (September 11, 1904 – January 7, 1991) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cohen received a Bache ...
Building and U.S. Courthouse.


Selected artworks

* ''Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco Their Guards,'' 1932, Collection of Miss Patricia Heale
Yale University
* ''
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti ''The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti'' is a 1932 painting series by Ben Shahn consisting of 32 gouache paintings of Sacco and Vanzetti . Creation Artist Ben Shahn had always wanted to be alive during a time of greatness, such as the crucif ...
'', 1931–33
Whitney Museum
* ''Untitled (Houston Street Playground, New York City),'' 1932

* ''W.C.T.U Parade,'' 1933–34

* Jersey Homesteads Mural, 1937–38

Roosevelt, New Jersey * ''Still Music,'' 1938
Philips Collection
, Washington DC and in Black/White * ''Handball'', 1939, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Fund

* ''The Meaning of Social Security'' mural, 1940–42
Federal Security Building
Washington, DC * ''For Full Employment after the War, Register-Vote,'' 1944

New York * ''Allegory,'' 1948, Bill Bomar Collection a
The Modern
* ''Age of Anxiety,'' 1953


Exhibitions

* "Ben Shahn: Paintings and Drawings," 1930, Edith Halpert's Downtown Gallery in New York, New York * "57th Annual American Exhibition: Water Colors and Drawings," 1946,
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
in London, England * "Ben Shahn: A Retrospective," 1947, Museum of Modern Art in New York, New York * "Esposizione Biennale internationale D’Arte XXVII," 1954 in Venice, Italy * "Ben Shahn," 1962, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium; Galleria Nazionale D'arte Moderna in Rome, Italy; and Albertina in Vienna, Austria. * "The Collected Prints of Ben Shahn," 1969, Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania. * "Ben Shahn: A Retrospective Exhibition," 1969, New Jersey State Museum,
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city, capital city (New Jersey), city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.
. * "Ben Shahn's New York: The Photography of Modern Times," 2000–01, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.


Further reading

* ''Ben Shahn's New Deal Murals: Jewish Identity in the American Scene'' by Diana L. Linden, 2015, Wayne State University Press


See also

* Kahler-Kreis *
List of AIGA medalists Following is a list of AIGA medalists who have been awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts medal. On its website, AIGA says "The medal of the AIGA, the most distinguished in the field, is awarded to individuals in recognition of their ex ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Ben Shahn papers, 1879–1990, bulk 1933–1970
Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...
,
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Ben Shahn in the National Gallery of Australia's Kenneth Tyler Collection


More on '' Father Coughlin''
Shahn poster


* ttp://thejewishmuseum.org/collection/artist/ben-shahn-american-b-lithuania-1898-1969 Ben Shahn worksin the collection of the Jewish Museum * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shahn, Ben 1898 births 1969 deaths New York University alumni 20th-century American photographers Jewish American artists Jewish painters Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Lithuanian Jews People from Roosevelt, New Jersey Social realist artists Art Students League of New York alumni Federal Art Project artists 20th-century American painters American male painters American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Section of Painting and Sculpture artists 20th-century American printmakers Harvard University faculty People of the United States Office of War Information 20th-century American Jews AIGA medalists 20th-century American male artists