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Artist Profile: Ben Shahn

By Shelley Esaak, About.com

Ben Shahn, The Red Stairway, 1944

The Red Stairway (1944 The Saint Louis Art Museum);

Scan © Mark Harden, used with permission
Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:

Social Realism

Ben Shahn is most closely associated with this movement, due to coming to prominence on the strength of his socially-concious paintings and FSA photography of the Depression Era.

Date and Place of Birth:

September 12, 1898, Kovno, Lithuania

Life:

It's hard to know what to spotlight in this instance. Ben Shahn was passionate about social injustice, and used painting, photography, commercial art, graphic design - and words! (he was that rare artist able to articulate the process of art) - to make his points. He was a Professor of Poetry at Harvard, and was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (1959) to defend his "Communist" views. Perhaps he'd not have been too unhappy with, "Best known for telling visual stories."

Important Works:

    The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (series; 1931-32)
    Jersey Homesteads Mural (1937-38)
    Portrait of Myself When Young (1943)
    The Red Stairway (1944)
    Liberation (1945)
    Mask (1956-57)

Date and Place of Death:

March 14, 1969, New York City

Recommended Books By or About Ben Shahn:

See more resources on Ben Shahn by following the links at right

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(Image scan courtesy and copyright of Mark Harden, used with kind permission. Please visit The Artchive for more fine resources.)

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