Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn (1898-1969), American artist whose work addresses social issues. Shahn was born in Kaunas, Russia (now in Lithuania), and arrived in the United States in 1906. He supported himself as a lithographer until 1930, when he held his first solo show in New York City. Shahn's work is notable for its strong, flat colors and clear, incisive lines. He first gained recognition with The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (1931-1932, Whitney Museum, New York City), a series of two large panels and 23 small gouaches based on the controversial trial and execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in the 1920s (see Sacco-Vanzetti Case). These works were the first of many that would reveal Shahn's social realism. He often painted immigrants, the poor, sweatshops, and unflattering portraits of politicians. In the 1930s, Shahn worked as a photographer for the U.S. Farm Security Administration documenting rural poverty.