Artists have different motives and inspirations for their works. Ben Shahn practiced social realism, a style dedicated to depicting social issues. Social realism in the 1930s focused on prohibition, the Great Depression and the struggling American lower class. A significant aspect of social realism was to not only depicting social struggle, but to also critic the way our social structure is set up. Drawing attention to issues was a large incentive in creating social realism.
Shahn emigrated from Lithuania to Brooklyn in 1906 as an escape from the persecution of Jews.[1] Shahn dropped out of school at 15-years-old to become a lithographs apprentice. However, he pursued his education throughout his late teens and early twenties as he attended night class to get his degree. He also took trips to Europe and Africa to extend his education.[2]
Shahn returned to NYC in 1929 and dedicated his talent as an artist to social conflict. He did this through paint and photographs, which both offered unique value to social realism. The benefit of a photograph to the movement was accuracy; photographs are the most accurate way to show an image to the public and are the best at portraying reality. On the other hand, painting offered different benefits that photos lack. Painting shows how a person perceives an image and it gives insight to emotion. Shahn touched on politics, labor laws, imprisonment, and prohibition through his art.[3] All of these issues were common topics throughout 1930s culture.
One of the projects that Shahn became passionate about was with the Public Works of Art group. He created eight works of art that depicted prohibition. “Parade for Repeal”, a mural that Shahn completed in 1933, shows a scene of men picketing for the repeal of the Volstead Act. The Blaine Act repealed the Volstead Act, which prohibited the sale of alcohol, shortly after Shahn’s mural was completed in 1933.
Shahn emigrated from Lithuania to Brooklyn in 1906 as an escape from the persecution of Jews.[1] Shahn dropped out of school at 15-years-old to become a lithographs apprentice. However, he pursued his education throughout his late teens and early twenties as he attended night class to get his degree. He also took trips to Europe and Africa to extend his education.[2]
Shahn returned to NYC in 1929 and dedicated his talent as an artist to social conflict. He did this through paint and photographs, which both offered unique value to social realism. The benefit of a photograph to the movement was accuracy; photographs are the most accurate way to show an image to the public and are the best at portraying reality. On the other hand, painting offered different benefits that photos lack. Painting shows how a person perceives an image and it gives insight to emotion. Shahn touched on politics, labor laws, imprisonment, and prohibition through his art.[3] All of these issues were common topics throughout 1930s culture.
One of the projects that Shahn became passionate about was with the Public Works of Art group. He created eight works of art that depicted prohibition. “Parade for Repeal”, a mural that Shahn completed in 1933, shows a scene of men picketing for the repeal of the Volstead Act. The Blaine Act repealed the Volstead Act, which prohibited the sale of alcohol, shortly after Shahn’s mural was completed in 1933.
This painting was one of Shahn’s many accomplished works that helped provoke change. He later went on to work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in order to publish work in promotion of the New Deal. With the FSA Shahn moved viewers with his murals and photographs of poverty across America.
[1] LEVY, DAVID W. "Shahn, Ben." Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S. McElvaine. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 875-877. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 22 Sept. 2014
[2] LEVY, DAVID W. "Shahn, Ben."
[3] LEVY, DAVID W. "Shahn, Ben."
[1] LEVY, DAVID W. "Shahn, Ben." Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S. McElvaine. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 875-877. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 22 Sept. 2014
[2] LEVY, DAVID W. "Shahn, Ben."
[3] LEVY, DAVID W. "Shahn, Ben."