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Ben Shahn
Untitled (Double sided watercolor) Recto: Figures seated at a table

c. 1960

$3,250
£2,500.12
€2,901.92
CA$4,583.28
A$5,134.04
CHF 2,696.58
MX$62,428.28
NOK 34,147.55
SEK 32,415.21
DKK 21,658.18

About the Item

Watercolor on paper Most probably related to the artist's creation of images surrounding Haggadah (Passover) which he started in 1930 and finished with the publication of his book in 1965. Note: Many of the illustrations in Shahn’s Haggadah were made around 1930. However, it was not until 1965 that the artist collected the drawings and watercolors together to form the printed Haggadah. Shahn said that the work “reflects my memories of the Passover in my father’s house. It reflects my early impressions and feelings; the images that were always invoked in my fancy by the majestic and meaningful ritual.” The theme of struggle against oppression, which is central to the Passover story, was a common one in Shahn’s work. At the time the Haggadah illustrations were made, Shahn was also working on a set of illustrations depicting the Dreyfus Affair, in which a Jewish Frenchman was falsely accused of espionage and imprisoned for nearly five years in the infamous Devil’s Island penal colony in French Guiana. From 1961 to 1967, Shahn worked on the stained glass at Temple Beth Zion, a Buffalo, NY synagogue designed by Harrison & Abramovitz. The Haggadah is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. Reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each Jew to "tell your son" of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus in the Torah ("And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying: It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came forth out of Egypt." Provenance: Dr. Elmer Kline, New York Gallery: Gertrude Stein (see invoice) Dr. Albert A. Holstein, New Jersey Condition: Front, very good with fresh colors Study verso: old mat staining from previous framing
  • Creator:
    Ben Shahn (1898-1969, American)
  • Creation Year:
    c. 1960
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Width: 11.5 in (29.21 cm)Depth: 11 in (27.94 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very attractively frame, with a double window (front and back). Ready to hang in your home and enjoy.
  • Gallery Location:
    Fairlawn, OH
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: FA114331stDibs: LU14013412682

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