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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1955.162
People
Ben Shahn, American (Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania 1898 - 1969 New York, NY)
Title
Man Picking Wheat
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Beatitudes
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1950
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/308547

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black tempera on darkened off-white wove paper
Dimensions
96.4 x 64.1 cm (37 15/16 x 25 1/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: black tempera, l.r.: Ben Shahn
  • watermark: [JP in design? see drawing of mark in curatorial file]
  • exhibition label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed and typed: no. 54.1173
  • exhibition label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed and handwritten: no. 51-3-32
  • exhibition label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial fiel, paper, printed and typewritten: no. 54.1172
  • label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed and typed: Loan no. 66.2265
  • label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed: no. 131
  • exhibition label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, typed and handwritten: no. 51, crate no. 2
  • label: removed from old backing? now in curatorial file, paper, printed and handwritten: [printed in blue ink:] e d [printed in purple ink:] MERCI DOGANA ITALIANA [with design of classical head] / VISITATE [blue ink:] 6095

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Downtown Gallery, New York, New York], sold to Meta and Paul J. Sachs, Cambridge, Massachusetts (L. 2091), 1951, gift; to the 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
1955.162
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Ben Shahn, Paragraphs on Art (Roosevelt, NJ, 1952), p. 7, repr.
  • Paul J. Sachs, Modern Prints and Drawings, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (New York, NY, 1954), p. 235, pl. 209
  • "Five Painters of America", Worcester Art Museum News Bulletin and Calendar (Worcester, MA, March 1955), XX, p. 21, repr.
  • The Art of Ben Shahn, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1956), no. 1 or no. 67 [depending on version of catalogue]
  • James Thrall Soby, Ben Shahn: His Graphic Art, George Braziller, Inc. (New York, NY, 1957), p. 19, pl. [50 or 52]
  • Agnes Mongan, Memorial Exhibition: Works of Art from the Collection of Paul J. Sachs [1878-1965]: given and bequeathed to the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, exh. cat., Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, 1965), cat. no. 75, repr.
  • American Masters, Gallery Collection of Important Paintings and Sculpture, auct. cat., Bernard Danenberg Galleries (New York, NY, Spring 1970 - Summer 1970), no. 86, repr.
  • Kenneth W. Prescott, The Complete Graphic Works of Ben Shahn, Quadrangle (New York, NY, 1973), p. 84
  • Kenneth W. Prescott, Ben Shahn: A Retrospective, 1898-1969, exh. cat., Jewish Museum (New York, NY, 1976), no. 51
  • Seymour Simmons, III and Mark S. A. Winer, Drawing: the Creative Process, Prentice-Hall, Inc. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1977), p. 162, fig. 5.36
  • Laura Katzman, "The Politics of Media: Painting and Photography in the Art of Ben Shahn", American Art, National Museum of American Art and Oxford University Press (NY) (Winter 1993-Spring 1993), vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 61-87, fig. 25, p. 84

Exhibition History

  • Venice Biennale XXVII, Venice Biennale XXVII, 1954, Venice, 06/19/1954 - 10/17/1954
  • Five Painters of America, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, 02/17/1955 - 04/03/1955
  • Contemporary American Drawings, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, 01/11/1956 - 02/26/1956
  • 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
  • Memorial Exhibition: Works of Art from the Collection of Paul J. Sachs [1878-1965] Given and Bequeathed to the Fogg Art Museum Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 11/15/1965 - 01/15/1966; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 12/19/1966 - 02/26/1967
  • 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