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Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Ronny Jaques, 1910 - 2008
Sitter
Ben Shahn, 12 Sep 1898 - 14 Mar 1969
Date
c. 1945
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 25.4 x 26.9cm (10 x 10 9/16")
Sheet: 35.3 x 27.9cm (13 7/8 x 11")
Mat: 55.9 x 40.6cm (22 x 16")
Topic
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair
Artwork
Interior\Office
Equipment\Drafting & Writing Implements\Typewriter
Ben Shahn: Visual Arts\Artist
Ben Shahn: Male
Ben Shahn: Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
Ben Shahn: Visual Arts\Artist\Illustrator
Ben Shahn: Visual Arts\Artist\Printmaker\Lithographer
Ben Shahn: Visual Arts\Artist\Painter\Muralist
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© The Estate of Ronny Jaques
Object number
NPG.2002.105
Exhibition Label
Born Kovno, Lithuania
The painter, photographer, and graphic artist Ben Shahn infused his works with a passion that made them both objects of art and political statements. In 1932, he became famous for his series of paintings on the Italian American anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, whose trial was widely criticized for its denial of due process. Shahn, a staunch New Dealer, painted murals and took on other commissions for the government arts and public works programs during the Great Depression. In this image by magazine photographer Ronny Jaques, Shahn, a strong supporter of labor, is shown with the poster he created for the Congress of Industrial Organizations, urging workers to register to vote.
Shahn’s later work became more abstract and allegorical, although still politically charged. In his last years, he turned to religious themes, creating illustrated versions of books from the Torah.
Nacido en Kovno, Lituania
El pintor, fotógrafo y artista gráfico Ben Shahn impregnaba sus obras de una pasión que, además de arte, las convertía en manifiestos políticos. En 1932 cobró fama por su serie de pinturas sobre los anarquistas italoamericanos Sacco y Vanzetti, cuyo juicio fue ampliamente criticado violar el debido proceso de ley. Partidario ferviente del Nuevo Trato, Shahn pintó murales y aceptó otros encargos para los programas de arte y obras públicas del gobierno durante la Gran Depresión. En esta imagen del fotógrafo de revistas Ronny Jaques, Shahn, gran defensor del movimiento obrero, aparece con el cartel que hizo para el Congreso de Organizaciones Industriales, exhortando a los trabajadores a inscribirse para votar.
Su obra posterior es más abstracta y alegórica, aunque aún de fuerza política. En sus últimos años cultivó temas religiosos, creando versiones ilustradas de los libros de la Torá.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view