Perlman Teaching Museum

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Ben Shahn
(American (b. Lithuania) 1898-1969)
American, (1898–1969)
Ben Shahn was born in Lithuania in 1898 to Jewish parents before his father
was exiled to Siberia for revolutionary activities in 1902. In 1906, his family fled
to the United States and settled in Brooklyn, New York. His childhood, marked
by his radical upbringing, his family's immigration, and his young brother's death
by drowning in 1915, would later heavily impact his future social-justice based
artwork.

As a teenager, Shahn apprenticed under a lithographer, paying his way
through night classes for his GED before attending NYU. Before his graduation,
Shahn traveled to France to attend the National Academy of Design and study
artists who would eventually have a profound impact on his work, learning from
such modern masters as Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso.
At the beginning of his career, and amidst the American political upheaval
of the early 20th century, Shahn shifted from the European style he once sought
and moved towards Social Realism, which was received well both critically and
publically. During the American Great Depression, Shahn moved throughout the
country, photographing the devastation with fellow artists Dorothea Lange and
Walker Evans.

As the United States faced the second World War, Shahn joined the Office
of War Information, connecting warfront and civilian communities through his
posters, some of which are on display here. His work continued to gain
popularity, and as his star rose, he accepted commissions sparingly, saving his
spotlight for social justice and civil rights causes.
In his later life, Shahn was rewarded for his unflinching political artwork,
earning honorary degrees from Harvard and Princeton. He turned to teaching,
holding residencies at Harvard and Skohegan School of Painting, and yet in
these periods, he was just as prolific, producing lithographs and paintings that
continued to show the world through his honest, revolutionary lens.

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