Ben Shahn (1898-1969)

After the much publicized Sacco and Vanzetti trial, in which two Italian immigrants were believed to have been wrongly convicted of murder, Shahn's work became ever more politicized. Not surprisingly, this shift in artistic focus coincided with the artist's personal shift in attitude towards the federal government.

According to Laura Katzman, noted Shahn scholar, "Shahn represented himself as a radical independent in his self-portraits of 1932 and 1933. In th[is] earlier work a young Shahn is casually dressed, playfully dancing with a makeshift scarecrow, both positioned between two worlds. At the left is a smaller, more serious Shahn, juxtaposed with a dog and a house--signs of security, domesticity, companionship, and loyalty. At the right are frowning politicians, conservatively attired, crowned by what looks like the U.S. Capitol--an icon of democratic governmentShahn wittily positioned his backside in front of the top-hatted man--irreverence in the face of establishment and authority." (L.R. Katzman, The Politics of Media: Ben Shahn and Photography, Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1998, p. 81)