Shahn, Ben(jamin)

born Sept. 12, 1898, Kaunas, Russia

died March 14, 1969, New York, N.Y., U.S.

Lithuanian-born U.S. painter and graphic artist.

His family immigrated to New York City in 1906. As a youth he worked as a lithographer's apprentice; he later attended New York University and the National Academy of Design. In 1931–33 he achieved fame with a series of gouache paintings inspired by the Sacco-Vanzetti case, combining realism and abstraction in the service of sharp sociopolitical comment. In 1933 he assisted Diego Rivera with his Rockefeller Center mural and worked for the Public Works of Art Project. In 1935–38 he depicted rural poverty while working as an artist and photographer for the Farm Security Administration. After World War II he concentrated on easel painting, poster design, and book illustration.

Ben Shahn, 1966.

© Karsh from Rapho/Photo Researchers

EB Inc.

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