Ben Shahn
| Ben Shahn | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Benjamin Shahn September 12, 1898 Kaunas, Russian Empire (present-day Lithuania) |
| Died | March 14, 1969 (aged 70) New York City, New York, United States |
| Nationality | Lithuanian American |
| Education | Lithographer's Apprentice, Art Student at City College of New York and at the National Academy of Design |
| Known for | Painting, illustration, graphic art, photography, writing |
| Notable work | Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo series and Jersey Homesteads Mural |
| Movement | Social realism |
| Spouse(s) | Tillie Goldstein (m. 1924; 2 children; divorced) Bernarda Bryson (m. 1935; 3 children) |
Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 – March 14, 1969) was a Lithuanian-born American artist. He is best known for his works of social realism, his left-wing political views, and his series of lectures published as The Shape of Content.
Shahn was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, then occupied by the Russian Empire, to Jewish parents Joshua Hessel and Gittel (Lieberman) Shahn. His father was exiled to Siberia for possible revolutionary activities in 1902, at which point Shahn, his mother, and two younger siblings moved to Vilkomir (Ukmergė). In 1906, the family immigrated to the United States where they rejoined Hessel, who had fled Siberia. They settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, where two more siblings were born. His younger brother drowned at age 17. Shahn began his path to becoming an artist in New York, where he was first trained as a lithographer. Shahn's early experiences with lithography and graphic design is apparent in his later prints and paintings which often include the combination of text and image. Shahn's primary medium was egg tempera, popular among social realists.
Although Shahn attended New York University as a biology student in 1919, he went on to pursue art at City College in 1921 and then at the National Academy of Design. After his marriage to Tillie Goldstein in 1924, the two traveled through North Africa and then to Europe, where he made "the traditional artist pilgrimage." There he studied great European artists such as Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Georges Rouault, Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee. Contemporaries who would make a profound impact on Shahn's work and career include artists Walker Evans, Diego Rivera and Jean Charlot.
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