Ben Shahn

(American, 1898–1969)

Ben Shahn was a Lithuanian-born American artist and member of the Social Realist movement. His expressive figurative paintings, murals, and posters were inexorably tied to his pursuit of social justice and lifelong activism within leftist political beliefs. Shahn unflinchingly critiqued the government and society, as seen in his The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (1931–1932), a painting which condemned the controversial conviction of two Italian-American immigrants who were sentenced to death in 1927. “The artist must operate on the assumption that the public consists in the highest order of individual—that he is civilized, cultured, and highly sensitive both to emotional and intellectual contexts,” he once stated. “And while the whole public most certainly does not consist in that sort of individual, still the tendency of art is to create such a public—to lift the level of perceptivity, to increase and enrich the average individual's store of values.” Born on September 12, 1898 in Kaunas, Lithuania into an Orthodox Jewish family, he and his family emigrated to New York in 1906. Shahn went on to study at the National Academy of Design in New York and traveled throughout Europe during the 1920s. Upon his return to the United States, he assisted Diego Rivera in 1933 for the painting of his Man at the Crossroads fresco in Rockefeller Center. During the latter part of his career, the artist’s paintings became more symbolic of his own emotional state rather than a description of social injustices. He died on March 14, 1969 in New York, NY. Today, Shahn’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others.

Ben Shahn Artworks

Ben Shahn (1,821 results)
Adam and Eve, 1957–1957

Ben Shahn

Adam and Eve, 1957–1957

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Siren, 1957–1957

Ben Shahn

Siren, 1957–1957

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Young woman leaning on arms

Ben Shahn

Young woman leaning on arms

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Head of a boy

Ben Shahn

Head of a boy

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Large group of horse-drawn carts

Ben Shahn

Large group of horse-drawn carts

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Landscape with a red house

Ben Shahn

Landscape with a red house

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Salome, 1929–1929

Ben Shahn

Salome, 1929–1929

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Nude in profile, 1929–1929

Ben Shahn

Nude in profile, 1929–1929

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Three bathers, 1930–1930

Ben Shahn

Three bathers, 1930–1930

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Male nude study, 1930–1930

Ben Shahn

Male nude study, 1930–1930

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Man drawing blood, 1934–1935

Ben Shahn

Man drawing blood, 1934–1935

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Flouroscopy, 1934–1935

Ben Shahn

Flouroscopy, 1934–1935

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Huey Long, 1935–1935

Ben Shahn

Huey Long, 1935–1935

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Study of man and woman in hats, 1935–1935

Ben Shahn

Study of man and woman in hats, 1935–1935

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Robert La Follette, 1937–1937

Ben Shahn

Robert La Follette, 1937–1937

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Seated black man, 1938–1938

Ben Shahn

Seated black man, 1938–1938

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Study of Hitler, 1940–1940

Ben Shahn

Study of Hitler, 1940–1940

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Black couple dancing

Ben Shahn

Black couple dancing

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Village, 1936–1936

Ben Shahn

Village, 1936–1936

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

In front of the bench, 1937–1937

Ben Shahn

In front of the bench, 1937–1937

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Basketball player #3, 1940–1940

Ben Shahn

Basketball player #3, 1940–1940

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Camels in yellow, 1943–1943

Ben Shahn

Camels in yellow, 1943–1943

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Hawaiian girl, 1945–1945

Ben Shahn

Hawaiian girl, 1945–1945

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Kneeling man

Ben Shahn

Kneeling man

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed