Live Auction 1074Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Prints
BEN SHAHN (1898-1969)

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BEN SHAHN (1898-1969)
Vandenberg, Dewey, and Taft (Prescott 5)
screenprint in colors (with the grey screen also printed on the reverse), 1941, on wove paper, signed in black ink, from the unspecified but presumably small edition (Prescott records only 4 impressions), with wide margins, light- and mat staining, a few small creases with related ink cracking (mainly at the left edge of the subject), extensive creasing in the margins, a 5/8-in. tear at the right sheet edge, otherwise in good condition, framed
P. 15 x 22 in. (381 x 559 mm.)
S. 19 1/8 x 25¼ in. (486 x 642 mm.)

Specialist note

This is one of Shahn's first prints and one of five screenprints executed in the early 1940's. Screenprinting experienced a short burst in popularity from the mid 1930's to early 1940's after the technique had grown out of its initial 20th Century commercial printing stigma. Aside from a few artists' efforts, screenprinting died out until the 1960's when it was adopted most notably by Andy Warhol.