Ben Shahn

Memories of Many Nights of Love from the Rilke Portfolio

1968

Artist: Ben Shahn, American (1898 - 1969) Title: Partings Long Seen Coming from the Rilke Portfolio Year: 1968 Medium: Lithograph on Richard de Bas, si...

Artist: Ben Shahn, American (1898 - 1969) Title: The First Word of Verse Arises from the Rilke Portfolio Year: 1968 Medium: Lithograph on Arches, signed in the plate Edition: 750 Siz...

"Beside the Dying" is an original signed lithograph by Ben Shahn. This print is from the series "For the Sake of a Single Verse" and depicts the head of a man in dark gray seemingly asleep or dead on a white background. It is signed lower right and is edition 27/200. 22" x 17" art 32 3/8" x 27 3/8" frame Ben Shahn (American, September 12, 1898 - March 14, 1969) was a painter, lithographer, and photographer best known for his left-wing political leanings, works of social realism, and The Shape of Content, a publication of his lectures. Shahn was born in Kovno, Lithuania, when the country was still occupied by the Russian Empire. In 1902, Shahn's father, Joshua Hessel, was exiled to Siberia. Shahn then moved to Vilkomir, Lithuania, with his mother, Gittel, and his two siblings. Their family moved to the United States in 1906 to join their father who had fled from exile. After settling in Brooklyn, NY, Shahn began to train in lithography and graphic design, and his favorite medium was egg tempera. In 1919, Shahn enrolled in New York University to study Biology before entering the City College in 1921 to study Art. He also studied Art at the National Academy of Design. In the 1920s, Shahn and his wife traveled around Africa and Europe to study the works of renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881- 1973) and Raoul Dufy (French, 1877-1953). In 1933, Shahn worked as an assistant of Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886 - 1957); at this time, Rivera was working on the mural at the Rockefeller Center in New York. Two years later, Shahn was recommended by Walker Evans (American, 1903 - 1975) to join the Farm Security Administration photographic group. One of the artist’s most famous works is the fresco mural he did for the Jersey Homesteads' community center. Shahn also worked on murals for the state on the Federal Security Building and the Bronx Central Annex Post Office. During the Second World War, Shahn made a series of paintings laced...

"In Rooms Withdrawn and Quiet" stone lithograph from the Rilke portfolio by Ben Shahn, circa late 1960s. It is presented silver painted wood frame with cream and signed in the stone ...