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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1960.676
People
Ben Shahn, American (Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania 1898 - 1969 New York, NY)
Title
J.B.'s Black Satan, for "J.B.: A Play in Verse"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1958
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/308537

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink and tempera on off-white wove paper, mounted overall to tan-paper-covered gray board.
Dimensions
68.5 x 51.9 cm (26 15/16 x 20 7/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: black ink, l.r.: Ben Shahn
  • watermark: A Mille Bourn [ ]
  • exhibition label: removed from backing? now in curatorial file, paper, photocopied and handwritten: Catalogue no. 73, crate no. 3
  • gallery label: removed from backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed and typed: No. 277
  • stamp: masonite backing, black ink, stamped: See photocopy in curatorial file

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Downtown Gallery, New York, New York], sold; to Archibald MacLeish, 1959; gift to the Fogg Art Museum, 1960.

NOTE: Provenance information taken from the Taller Archive.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Archibald MacLeish
Copyright
© Estate of Ben Shahn / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Accession Year
1960
Object Number
1960.676
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
White gouache or gesso around edges.

Publication History

  • Bernarda Bryson Shahn, Ben Shahn, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1972), pp. 215-216, pl. 227, repr.
  • Kenneth W. Prescott, Ben Shahn: A Retrospective, 1898-1969, exh. cat., Jewish Museum (New York, NY, 1976), no. 73
  • [Reproduction only], Exposé (Essays from the Harvard Expository Writing Program), Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1998 - 1999)., repr. p. 35

Exhibition History

  • 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
  • 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
  • Ben Shahn and the Theatre, Center for the Arts at Purchase, Purchase, 07/01/1982 - 08/08/1982
  • The Shape of Content: The Stephen Lee Taller Ben Shahn Archive at Harvard, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/27/1999 - 03/26/2000

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