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)

Basketball player, 1940–1940

Ben Shahn

Basketball player, 1940–1940

Sale Date: May 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Byzantine isometric, 1951–1951

Ben Shahn

Byzantine isometric, 1951–1951

Sale Date: May 22, 2002

Auction Closed

Wife of destitute mountaineer, Ozark..., 1935–1935

Ben Shahn

Wife of destitute mountaineer, Ozark..., 1935–1935

Sale Date: May 10, 2002

Auction Closed

Warning! Inflation means depression, 1946–1946

Ben Shahn

Warning! Inflation means depression, 1946–1946

Sale Date: May 6, 2002

Auction Closed

Break reactions grip / Register-vote, 1946–1946

Ben Shahn

Break reactions grip / Register-vote, 1946–1946

Sale Date: May 6, 2002

Auction Closed

Seward Park, 1936–1936

Ben Shahn

Seward Park, 1936–1936

Sale Date: May 2, 2002

Auction Closed

Vandenberg, Dewey and Taft, 1941–1941

Ben Shahn

Vandenberg, Dewey and Taft, 1941–1941

Sale Date: May 1, 2002

Auction Closed

The gestures of little flowers, 1968–1968

Ben Shahn

The gestures of little flowers, 1968–1968

Sale Date: April 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Rilke portfolio, 1968–1968

Ben Shahn

Rilke portfolio, 1968–1968

Sale Date: April 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Mrs. Hulhall and children, Arkansas, 1935–1935

Ben Shahn

Mrs. Hulhall and children, Arkansas, 1935–1935

Sale Date: April 15, 2002

Auction Closed

Cotton pickers, 1935–1935

Ben Shahn

Cotton pickers, 1935–1935

Sale Date: April 15, 2002

Auction Closed

Modern Industrial Bank, Wall Street, 1934–1934

Ben Shahn

Modern Industrial Bank, Wall Street, 1934–1934

Sale Date: April 15, 2002

Auction Closed

Many cities, 1968–1968

Ben Shahn

Many cities, 1968–1968

Sale Date: March 23, 2002

Auction Closed

Mask, 1959–1959

Ben Shahn

Mask, 1959–1959

Sale Date: February 19, 2002

Auction Closed

Six witnesses who bought eels from..., 1931–1932

Ben Shahn

Six witnesses who bought eels from..., 1931–1932

Sale Date: February 13, 2002

Auction Closed

Register, 1944–1944

Ben Shahn

Register, 1944–1944

Sale Date: February 7, 2002

Auction Closed

For all these rights we've begun to fight, 1946–1946

Ben Shahn

For all these rights we've begun to fight, 1946–1946

Sale Date: February 7, 2002

Auction Closed

We want peace / Register vote, 1946–1946

Ben Shahn

We want peace / Register vote, 1946–1946

Sale Date: February 7, 2002

Auction Closed

Frederick Douglass

Ben Shahn

Frederick Douglass

Sale Date: January 17, 2002

Auction Closed

Phoenix, 1952–1952

Ben Shahn

Phoenix, 1952–1952

Sale Date: January 11, 2002

Auction Closed

Sheriff's deputy during strike in..., 1935–1935

Ben Shahn

Sheriff's deputy during strike in..., 1935–1935

Sale Date: December 7, 2001

Auction Closed

Plain City Ind. Fair, Ohio, 1935–1939

Ben Shahn

Plain City Ind. Fair, Ohio, 1935–1939

Sale Date: December 7, 2001

Auction Closed

Ghandi and the mysterious stranger, 1965–1965

Ben Shahn

Ghandi and the mysterious stranger, 1965–1965

Sale Date: October 23, 2001

Auction Closed

For the sake of a single verse

Ben Shahn

For the sake of a single verse

Sale Date: October 17, 2001

Auction Closed

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