A black-and-white photograph portrays a man with hands on hips facing a bank’s storefront window.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A black-and-white photograph shows the upper half of a man, off center to the left, wearing a pleated beanie, a long-sleeve shirt, and overalls with crisscross straps, his back to the viewer with hands on hips, looking at a poster in a bank’s storefront window. There is a large clock in the center of the window, another poster hanging on the right, and the name of the bank runs from the center to the upper right. Reflected in the window are the cars and shops on the opposite side of the street, and the profile of another man holding a camera at left.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
P1970.2787
People
Ben Shahn, American (Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania 1898 - 1969 New York, NY)
Title
Untitled (Washington Court House, Ohio)
Classification
Photographs
Work Type
photograph
Date
July 1938-August 1938
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States, Ohio, Washington Court House
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/302272

Physical Descriptions

Technique
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet; actual: 20.5 x 25.5 cm (8 1/16 x 10 1/16 in.)
image: 16.6 x 24.4 cm (6 9/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: inscribed in graphite on verso, upper center: Ben Shahn at left in reflection; inscribed in red ink on masking tape affixed to verso: 155; inscribed in graphite on verso, center: 6402M4; stamped in black ink on verso, lower right: PLEASE CREDIT F.S.A. FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION PHOTO BY: SHAHN; inscribed in black ink on verso, lower right: P

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Bernarda Bryson Shahn
Copyright
© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Object Number
P1970.2787
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Davis Pratt, ed., The Photographic Eye of Ben Shahn, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 1975), 120
  • James Cuno, Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Ivan Gaskell, and William W. Robinson, Harvard's Art Museums: 100 Years of Collecting, ed. James Cuno, Harvard University Art Museums and Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, 1996), 303
  • Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997

Exhibition History

  • Chasing Shadows, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/21/1995 - 04/02/1995
  • HAA 1 Survey Course: Landmarks of World Art and Architecture [Spring 2007], Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 02/26/2007 - 04/08/2007
  • HAA 1 Survey Course (S421): Landmarks of World Art and Architecture [Spring 2009], Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/12/2009 - 05/10/2009
  • HAA 1 Survey Course (S421): Landmarks of World Art and Architecture (Spring 2010), Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 02/05/2010 - 05/09/2010
  • 32Q: 1320 Social Realism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/05/2016 - 03/29/2017; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/17/2024 - 04/14/2025

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu