Ben Shahn

Born in 1898 to Jewish parents, in what is now Lithuania. He immigrated to New York City in 1906, where he worked as an apprentice in his uncle's lithography studio from the age of 15, attended high school at night, and went on to Columbia University. He attended New York University from 1919, and then New York City College. In 1931-32, he attracted attention with a series of paintings protesting the Sacco and Vanzetti trials and the imprisonment of labor activist Mooney. He is also known for other works dealing with social events, such as his 1954 work about the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, the Japanese fishing boat damaged in a 1954 hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll. In the 1930s, as part of the New Deal, he participated in the creation of murals in various parts of the United States. He also produced numerous works in the field of graphic design, and his tasteful hand-drawn lines and color surfaces had a great influence on later designers and painters. After completing a collection of prints based on the German poet Rilke's “Malte's Memoirs", he passed away in 1969 .