Lot 169
  • 169

Ben Shahn 1898-1969

Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 USD
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Description

  • Ben Shahn
  • Our Friend
  • signed Ben Shahn, l.l.
  • tempera on artist's board
  • 27 by 40 in.
  • (68.6 by 101.6 cm)
  • Painted circa 1944.

Provenance

Gift from the artist to the present owner

Literature

Frances K. Pohl, Ben Shahn: New Deal Artist in a Cold War Climate, Austin, Texas, 1989, pp. 15-18, illustration of the campaign poster

Catalogue Note

The present work is an original study for a campaign poster to re-elect President Roosevelt created for the National Citizens Political Action Committee. Shahn's son, Jonathan, served as the model for the young boy on the soldier's shoulders.  President Roosevelt, his distinctive profile occupying almost half of the composition, is portrayed as the "champion of the American working man."