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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.191
People
Ben Shahn, American (Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania 1898 - 1969 New York, NY)
Title
Cover Design for "Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth" by Henry Nash Smith
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1957
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/193354

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Gouache and collage on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
25.8 x 22.7 cm (10 3/16 x 8 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: brown gouache, l.r.: Ben Shahn
  • inscription: verso, graphite: Z-1117A
  • inscription: verso, graphite: 18
  • inscription: in Shahn's text, graphite: Set this line in type
  • inscription: l.l., graphite: [encircled:] B
  • inscription: l.l., graphite: [encircled:] 3
  • inscription: l.l., graphite: [crossed off: Dark green / plate
  • inscription: lower center, blue ballpoint: #3
  • inscription: right edge, blue ball-point: 3 / 2 / [encircled:] 1

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Estate of Ben Shahn; to [Dintenfass Gallery, New York, New York], sold; to Stephen Lee Taller, Berkeley, California, 1988; to Dolores Taller, gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums 2002.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Stephen Lee Taller Ben Shahn Archive, Gift of Dolores S. Taller
Copyright
© Estate of Ben Shahn / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Accession Year
2002
Object Number
2002.191
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Four squares of color at right edge; uppermost one is cut out from another sheet and affixed, remaining three painted on.

Exhibition History

  • The Shape of Content: The Stephen Lee Taller Ben Shahn Archive at Harvard, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/27/1999 - 03/26/2000

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