The Parable
Artist
Ben Shahn
(American, 1898 - 1969)
Date1958
MediumTempera on cardboard
DimensionsOverall: 48 x 37 3/4in. (121.9 x 95.9cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number58.272
Description On View
Not on viewCollections
CopyrightPresumed copyright: the artist or the artist's representative/heir(s).
Label TextIn the 1930s and 1940s Ben Shahn devoted much of his art to affecting political change. He championed in particular workers' rights around the globe, but he also depicted scenes of urban life. Because of his leftist leanings, by the 1950s Shahn was blacklisted and investigated by the FBI.
By the late 1950s, Shahn's subject matter grew more allegorical, as with his painting The Parable. If a parable is a story that illustrates a moral or religious principle, what in this work is Shahn trying to teach the viewer? He depicts a man who appears to be drowning. It is probable that the conditions of the Cold War, artistic censorship, and a perceived lack of spiritual direction were among the concerns Shahn tries to convey.
It should be noted that Shahn was a skilled artist but purposefully chose a sharp, almost unskilled-looking style to convey a feeling of great anxiety in The Parable.
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