A black and white photograph of a person seated in front of a building.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The photograph shows a person seated on a step in front of a glass paned door. The person is wearing dark trousers, a dark jacket, a light hat. The person has their head down and is holding it with both hands. Beside the person is large poster advertising Charlie Chaplin in “Modern Times” and three other movies.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
P1970.2809
People
Ben Shahn, American (Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania 1898 - 1969 New York, NY)
Title
Bowery (New York City)
Classification
Photographs
Work Type
photograph
Date
April 1936
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States, New York State, New York City
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/302590

Physical Descriptions

Technique
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
mount (original mount): 20.2 x 25.2 cm (7 15/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
image: 16 x 24 cm (6 5/16 x 9 7/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: recto of mount, lower left, purple ink, in artist's hand: Bowery
  • inscription: verso of mount, upper right, blue ink: BEN SHAHN
    NY CIRCA 1931-2
  • inscription: verso of mount, right center, graphite: 14 1/4 x 19
  • inscription: verso of mount, lower center, graphite: [assistant of Davis Pratt]: BOOK
  • inscription: inscribed in ink on the recto of the mount, lower left: Bowery; inscribed in graphite on verso of the mount: BOOK; inscribed in graphite on verso of the mount: 14 1/4 x 19; inscribed in ink on verso of the mount: Ben Shahn NY circa 1931-2

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Bernarda Bryson Shahn
Copyright
© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Object Number
P1970.2809
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), 23
  • Rita Barnard, The Great Depression & The Culture of Abundance, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY, 1995), book jacket
  • Nissan N. Perez, Displaced Visions: Emigre photographs of the 20th Century, exh. cat., Israel Museum (Jerusalem, 2013), p. 135, ill.
  • Ben Shahn: On Nonconformity, exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid, 2023), p. 85, ill. (color)

Exhibition History

  • Ben Shahn: Cross Media Artist, Photograph, Painting and Graphic Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama, Kanagawa, 12/03/2011 - 01/29/2012; Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya, 02/11/2012 - 03/25/2012; The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama-shi, 04/08/2012 - 05/20/2012
  • 32Q: 1320 Social Realism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 04/29/2015

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