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A black and white photograph of a section of a town’s main street.

The photograph shows a view of a section of a town’s main street. Buildings line both sides of the street, several cars are seen facing away from the viewer. Power poles with lines strung between and a traffic light are visible on the left. A sign just off the sidewalk in the right foreground advertises a triple dip for 5 cents with an image of a triple dip ice cream cone. Slightly behind on a post is an oval sign advertising new and used cars. A group of people are on the sidewalk in the background on the right.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
P1970.3119
People
Ben Shahn, American (Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania 1898 - 1969 New York, NY)
Title
Untitled (Main Street, Plain City, Ohio)
Classification
Photographs
Work Type
photograph
Date
August 1938
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States, Ohio, Plain City
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303001

Physical Descriptions

Technique
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 16.7 x 24.3 cm (6 9/16 x 9 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • label: label on mat board, removed and placed in object file.: 56. Main Street / Plain City, Ohio, August, 1938 / Robert M. Sedgwick II Collection, Harvard University

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Bernarda Bryson Shahn
Copyright
© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Object Number
P1970.3119
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), 109

Exhibition History

  • Ben Shahn, Photographer, Fitchburg Art Museum, 10/05/1975 - 10/31/1975
  • Ben Shahn: A Retrospective, 1898-1969, Jewish Museum, New York, 10/12/1976 - 01/02/1977; University of Georgia, Athens, 01/27/1977 - 03/17/1977; Spertus Museum, Chicago, 04/11/1977 - 05/23/1977; University of Texas at Austin Art Museum, Austin, 06/23/1977 - 08/11/1977; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, 09/05/1977 - 10/24/1977; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, 11/17/1977 - 01/15/1978
  • 32Q: 1320 Social Realism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/17/2019 - 06/02/2021

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Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or 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