1963.Ben Shahn Book Lettering Love Joy About Letters Color Plates Slipcase

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i000000 1963.Ben Shahn Book Abour Lettering Love Joy About Letters Color Plates Slipcase Description : LOVE AND JOY ABOUT LETTERS BY BEN SHAHN GROSSMAN PUBLISHER S NEW YORK 1963 DESCRIPTION: Hard Cover. Very Goo d/ in Good Sl ip case. 1963. First Edition. Oblong, 13 3/4 X 10 1/4". [4], 5-79 pages. Cover of color striped cloth with title on cover in white. Corners gent ly rubbed. Clean and bright. Slipcase has edge rubbing and some sli ght toni ng. Sticker price on cas e. Binding and hinges are very good or better. No writi ng or boo kplate with small rubbed area on free end paper. Gorgeous paper throughout with both colo r and black and white plates. 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 Kovno ( 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 ( UkmergÄ ). 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. [1 ] 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." [2 ] 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 . Shahn was dissatisfied with the work inspired by his travels, claiming that the pieces were unoriginal. [2 ] Shahn eventually outgrew his pursuit of European modern art ; he, instead, redirected his efforts toward a realist style which he used to contribute to social dialogue. The 23 gouache paintings of the trials of Sacco and Vanzetti communicated the political concerns of his time, rejecting academic prescriptions for subject matter. The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti was exhibited in 1932 and received acclaim from both the public and critics. This series gave Shahn the confidence to cultivate his personal style, regardless of society’s art standards. [4 ] Work during the Great Depression Shahn's subsequent series of California labor leader Tom Mooney won him the recognition of Diego Rivera. [2 ] In May and June 1933, he served as an assistant to Diego Rivera while Rivera executed the infamous Rockefeller Center mural. Shahn had a role in fanning the controversy, by circulating a petition among the workers. Also during this period, Shahn met photojournalist Bernarda Bryson , who would later become his second wife. Although this marriage was successful, the mural, his 1934 project for the Public Works of Art Projects and proposal for the Municipal Art Commission were all failures. [2 ] Fortunately, in 1935, Shahn was recommended by Walker Evans , a friend and former roommate, to Roy Stryker to join the photographic group at the Farm Security Administration (FSA). As a member of the FSA group, Shahn roamed and documented the American south together with his colleagues Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange . Like his earlier photography o... read more

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