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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1955.160
People
Ben Shahn, American (Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania 1898 - 1969 New York, NY)
Title
Blind Botanist
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1954
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/308524

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black tempera, with touches of green gouache[?], on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
actual: 98 x 64 cm (38 9/16 x 25 3/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: black ink, l.r.: Ben Shahn
  • watermark: UNBLEACHED ARNOLD
  • gallery label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, typed and printed: no. 222
  • exhibition label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed and handwritten: no. 14
  • exhibition label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, typed and handwritten: cat. no. 63, crate no. 2
  • exhibition label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed and handwritten: no. 51-3-31

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Downtown Gallery, New York, New York], sold; to Meta and Paul J. Sachs, Cambridge, Massachusetts (L. 2091), 1955, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1955.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Meta and Paul J. Sachs
Copyright
© Estate of Ben Shahn / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Accession Year
1955
Object Number
1955.160
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • The Art of Ben Shahn, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1956), no. 5 or no. 50 [depending on version of catalogue]
  • Ben Shahn, exh. cat., Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1961), no. 48
  • Ben Shahn, exh. cat., Albertina (Vienna, Austria, 1962), no. 19
  • Ben Shahn [exposition] fevrier 1962, exh. cat., Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (Brussels, Belgium, 1962), no. 48
  • "Drawings by Ben Shahn", Spindrift, Saint Paul Art Center (St. Paul, MN, February 1966 - April 1966), vol. I, no. 1, p. 7, no. 22
  • Ben Shahn: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat., New Jersey State Museum (Trenton, NJ, 1969), no. 70, repr.
  • Kenneth W. Prescott, Ben Shahn: A Retrospective, 1898-1969, exh. cat., Jewish Museum (New York, NY, 1976), no. 63

Exhibition History

  • Venice Biennale XXVII, Venice Biennale XXVII, 1954, Venice, 06/19/1954 - 10/17/1954
  • Ben Shahn Retrospective, The Downtown Gallery, New York, 01/18/1955 - 02/12/1955
  • Five Painters of America, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, 02/17/1955 - 04/03/1955
  • The Art of Ben Shahn, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 12/04/1956 - 01/19/1957
  • Ben Shahn: A Documentary Exhibition, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Boston, 04/10/1957 - 05/31/1957
  • Ben Shahn, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 12/22/1961 - 01/22/1962; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Brussels, 02/01/1962 - 02/28/1962; Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Roma, Rome, 03/31/1962 - 04/20/1962; Albertina Gallery, Vienna, 05/22/1962 - 06/24/1962
  • Ben Shahn Graphics, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, 08/20/1962 - 09/09/1962; Galerije Grada Zagreba, Zagreb, 11/06/1962 - 11/30/1962; Moderna Gallerija, Ljubljana, 12/10/1962 - 01/07/1963; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 02/16/1963 - 03/10/1963; Konsthall, Lund, 03/16/1963 - 04/15/1963; Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem, 05/25/1963 - 06/26/1963
  • Drawings by Ben Shahn, Saint Paul Art Center, St. Paul, 02/02/1966 - 03/30/1966
  • Ben Shahn: A Retrospective Exhibition, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 09/20/1969 - 11/16/1969
  • 10th Annual Exhibition-- Ben Shahn, Temple Beth El, Portland, 05/01/1971 - 05/31/1971
  • Unidentified Exhibition, Lincoln Laboratory, 1972, Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, 12/01/1972 - 01/31/1973
  • 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

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