Websites

Whitney Museum of American Art: Director’s Tour

Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law Professor, gives a thumbnail audio description of the story behind Shahn’s painting, "The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti," which can be seen in the Whitney’s permanent collection galleries.

http://www.whitney.org/american_voices/586/index.html

The National Archives: A New Deal for the Arts

An on-line exhibit including examples of posters and other graphic work created by Ben Shahn for various New Deal agencies.

http://www.nara.gov/exhall/new_deal_for_the_arts/index.html

Library of Congress: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945

A vast resource that includes most of the FSA photographs taken by Ben Shahn. Also featured is an on-line book, Documenting America, which includes an essay about a series of photographs Shahn took of cotton pickers in Arkansas, circa 1935.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html

Ben Shahn at Harvard

A searchable database of Harvard’s collection of Ben Shahn images. Strong focus on his photography. Includes essays and teacher/family guides.

http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/Shahn/index.html

The Bronx Post Office Mural by Ben and Bernarda Bryson Shahn

A site dedicated to the public art created for the Bronx Post Office, with an extensive section about the 13 panel mural painted by Ben and his wife, and the controversy that surrounded it.

http://bronxart.lehman.cuny.edu/pa/bgpo.htm

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Books

A large format book covering periods from throughout Shahn’s career.

Ben Shahn
Frances K. Pohl
Pomegranate Artbooks, 1993

The first full biography of the artist.

Ben Shahn: An Artist’s Life
Howard Greenfeld
Random House, 1998
www.randomhouse.com

The classic series of essays by the artist.

The Shape of Content
Ben Shahn
Harvard University Press, 1957

Exhibition catalog focusing on the influence of photography in Shahn’s work.

Ben Shahn’s New York: The Photography of Modern Times
With essays by Deborah Martin Kao, Laura Katzman, and Jenna Webster
Harvard University Art Museums and Yale University Press, 2000

Exhibition catalog focusing on the Sacco-Vanzetti case, and Shahn’s treatment of it throughout his career.

Ben Shahn and the Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti
With essays by Frances K. Pohl, Nunzio Pernicone, Laura katzman, Diana L. Linden, and Alejandro Anreus
Jersey City Museum and Rutgers University Press, 2001

Exhibition catalog focusing on Shahn’s post-WWII paintings.

Common Man, Mythic Vision: The Paintings of Ben Shahn
With essays by Susan Chevlowe, Diana L. Linden, Stephen Polcari, Frances K. Pohl,
and a chronology by Howard Greenfeld
The Jewish Museum, NY, and Princeton University Press, 1998

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Public Murals

Jersey Homesteads Mural (1937-38)
Fresco
Roosevelt Public School
Roosevelt, New Jersey
Can be seen between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays.
(609) 448-2798

Resources of America (1938-39)
Egg tempera on plaster
Bronx General Post Office (south side façade)
558 Grand Concourse and 149^th Street
Can be seen when post office is open.

The First Amendment (Jamaica Mural) (1939-41)
Egg Tempera on canvas
Wood Haven Station
86-34 Forest Parkway
Jamaica, Queens Post Office, New York
Can be seen when post office is open.

The Meaning of Social Security (1940-42)
Fresco secca (tempera)
Wilbur J. Cohen Building, Washington, D.C.
Can be seen by appointment.
Voice of America’s Office of External Affairs: (202) 619-3919

Alternatives (1963)
Mosaic
Hollis F. Price Library
LeMoyne-Owen College
807 Walker Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee
Can be seen during library hours.
(901) 774-9090

Apotheosis (1965)
Mosaic
William E. Grady Vocational High School
25 Brighton 4th Road
Brooklyn, New York
On exterior of school.
(718) 332-5000

Temple Beth Zion (1965)
Stained glass windows; interior mosaics & menorah
805 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo New York
Can be seen by appointment.
(716) 836-6565

The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (1967)
Mosaic
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York
Outdoors at Sims Hall
(315) 443-4097