Ben Shahn
1898–1969
13 works
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Haggadah
1966 -
Psalm 133
1963 -
McCarthy Peace
c. 1960–1970 -
Conversations
1958 -
Everyman
1954 -
Reconstruction
1945 -
Cherubs and Children
1944 -
Scotts Run, West Virginia
1937 -
Squatter's Camp, Route No. 70, Arkansas
c. 1936 -
Burlesque, New York
1932 -
Sailor's at South Street, NY
1932 -
New York
c. 1932–1935 -
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti
1931–1932
Audio
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Ben Shahn, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1931–32
Stop 733 from America Is Hard to See
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Ben Shahn, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1931–32
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Adam Weinberg: Alan Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.
Alan Dershowitz: Felix Frankfurter was the lawyer who in fact tried to save the lives of Sacco and Vanzetti after they had been falsely convicted, falsely in the sense that the evidence used against them was questionable.
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, by Ben Shahn, shows four villains, judges, very distinguished Massachusetts citizens, standing over the coffins of the recently executed victims of the injustice, Sacco and Vanzetti. The people standing over the coffin, in the center, A. Lawrence Lowell, the bigoted president of Harvard University, who was appointed by the governor of Massachusetts to be the chairman of the commission to review the Sacco-Vanzetti case. Lowell was an admitted racialist. He believed in racial quotas. He established them at Harvard. His two compatriots were the president of MIT and a retired judge named Grant.
Standing over them, almost hovering above them, is the Judge Webster Thayer who presided over the trial, and made a mockery of justice. He told people he was out to get these radical Italians, and he would not rest until they were in their graves.
The case itself was a simple armed robbery in Braintree, Massachusetts. A paymaster was shot and killed. Nobody will ever know whether Sacco and Vanzetti, or Sacco or Vanzetti, were responsible for the killings. That’s become lost in the evidence that was distorted and destroyed by the state.
They were sentenced to death, and the execution was carried out after many many protests and much turmoil. And the legacy of Sacco and Vanzetti will live on. And we will long understand the real villains of the case were the judges and the university presidents who lent the legitimacy and the legitimacy of their institutions to a case of racism and injustice.
Exhibitions
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Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945
Feb 17, 2020–Jan 31, 2021
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Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960
Apr 28, 2017–June 2, 2019
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Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney’s Collection
Apr 2, 2016–Apr 2, 2017
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America Is Hard to See
May 1–Sept 27, 2015
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Real/Surreal
Oct 6, 2011–Feb 12, 2012
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Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time
Oct 28, 2010–Apr 10, 2011
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Modernisms
Aug 29, 2007–Jan 13, 2008
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Full House: Views of the Whitney’s Collection at 75
June 29–Sept 3, 2006
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Highlights from the Permanent Collection: From Hopper to Mid-Century
Feb 25, 2000–May 20, 2006
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1967 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Painting
Dec 13, 1967–Feb 4, 1968
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1965 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Dec 8, 1965–Jan 30, 1966
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Annual Exhibition 1963: Contemporary American Painting
Dec 11, 1963–Feb 2, 1964
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Annual Exhibition 1962: Contemporary Sculpture and Drawings
Dec 12, 1962–Feb 3, 1963
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Annual Exhibition 1961: Contemporary American Painting
Dec 13, 1961–Feb 4, 1962
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Annual Exhibition 1960: Contemporary Sculpture and Drawings
Dec 7, 1960–Jan 22, 1961
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1959 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Dec 9, 1959–Jan 31, 1960
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1958 Annual Exhibition: Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings
Nov 19, 1958–Jan 4, 1959
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1957 Annual Exhibition: Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors
Nov 20, 1957–Jan 12, 1958
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1956 Annual Exhibition: Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings
Nov 14, 1956–Jan 6, 1957
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1955 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 9, 1955–Jan 8, 1956
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1955 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Jan 12–Feb 20, 1955
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1954 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 17–Apr 18, 1954
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1953 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Oct 15–Dec 6, 1953
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1952 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 6, 1952–Jan 4, 1953
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1952 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 13–May 4, 1952
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1951 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 8, 1951–Jan 6, 1952
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1951 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 17–May 6, 1951
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1950 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 10–Dec 31, 1950
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1950 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Apr 1–May 28, 1950
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1949 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Dec 16, 1949–Feb 5, 1950
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1949 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Apr 2–May 8, 1949
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1948 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 13, 1948–Jan 2, 1949
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1948 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Jan 31–Mar 21, 1948
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1947 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Dec 6, 1947–Jan 25, 1948
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1947 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 11–Apr 17, 1947
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1946 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Dec 10, 1946–Jan 16, 1947
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1946 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Feb 5–Mar 13, 1946
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1945 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 27, 1945–Jan 10, 1946
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1945 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Jan 3–Feb 8, 1945
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1944 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 14–Dec 12, 1944
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1943 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art
Nov 23, 1943–Jan 4, 1944
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1942 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art
Nov 24, 1942–Jan 6, 1943
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1941 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings and Prints
Jan 15–Feb 19, 1941
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1940 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 27, 1940–Jan 8, 1941
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1938 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 2–Dec 11, 1938
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1938 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings and Prints
Mar 8–Apr 10, 1938
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Second Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 27, 1934–Jan 10, 1935
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First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Prints
Dec 5, 1933–Jan 11, 1934
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First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Nov 22, 1932–Jan 5, 1933