The people's painter: how Ben Shahn fought for justice with art

Ben Shahn's first memories as a boy in his early twentieth-century Lithuanian village were of drawing. Because paper was scarce, the Jewish boy traced the Hebrew letters in his book of Bible stories and drew in the margins. From a young age, Shahn also had a strong sense of justice, particularly after his father was banished to Siberia for demanding fair pay for working people. This eloquent picture--book biography focuses on Shahn's path to becoming an artist after he and his family escaped to America. While overcoming the hardships of being an immigrant, Shahn apprenticed as a lithographer by day and attended art school at night. With an emphasis on landscapes, art school quickly discouraged Shahn, who wanted to tell stories through his art. Turk's expressive paintings with exaggerated features evoke the spirit of Shahn and the artist's depictions of the immigrant experience, working people, and protests. Levinson highlights three of Shahn's greatest accomplishments: his Sacco and Vanzetti series, photos of the Great Depression, and the Jersey Homesteads mural from the New Deal era. A concluding author's note provides more information on Shahn's personal life, his social realism style, and his influence on children's author and illustrator Tomie dePaola. A thoughtful introduction to this social-justice artist.

This profile of Jewish artist and activist Ben Shahn, who emigrated from Lithuania to America in 1906, highlights the threads of compassion and social justice that ran through his work. Shahn learned of injustice early in his life, witnessing his father's banishment to Siberia for "demanding fair pay for working people," and later experiencing anti-Semitism in America. Leaving school at age 14 to help support his family, Shahn attended art school at night while apprenticed to a lithographer. An unjust execution spurred Shahn's social realism paintings, attention to which resulted in the U.S. government hiring him to take photographs across America that "revealed hard lives in troubled times." Bold, richly layered multimedia illustrations by Turk feature abstracted characters in Shahn's style, while Levinson's smooth, well-researched narrative provides a comprehensive introduction to a justice-minded painter. Back matter includes an author's note, an illustrator's note, a timeline, and selected bibliography. Ages 4--8. (Apr.)

Ben Shahn (1898-1969) was known as "the people's painter" because his art told real stories about real people. Levinson and Turk here team up to tell Shahn's own story, from his Jewish family's emigration from Lithuania to the U.S. when he was a child, to his teenage years (lithographer by day, art student by night), to his fame as an artist who would "portray stories of people clamoring for their rights. Civil rights activists. Workers demanding fair pay. Political protesters. Advocates for peace." From an early age Ben was passionate about calling out injustice -- after his father was imprisoned for speaking out in favor of worker's rights, Ben "marched up to the sentry at the end of the street and shouted, 'Down with the Czar!'" He also loved to create art and used his work to tell stories, despite his teachers' insistence that "pictures should be beautiful -- not real life." Through the years, Ben ignored this dictum and made a name for himself with his social realist art, which brought him a wide audience. Levinson skillfully shows the artist's relatable qualities, such as when young Ben refuses to name names after a classroom prank ("I'm not going to tell who did it...and I'm not going to pay for something I didn't do"). Her celebratory text is well complemented by Turk's strong and distinctively bold, colorful mixed-media art. Turk uses forced perspective to show Ben standing up to injustice despite his diminutive size, while hands feature in nearly every spread -- fists raised in resistance, palms opened upwards in plea, fingers clasped together in farewell -- further heightening emotional impact. A Yiddish glossary and pronunciation guide, author and illustrator notes, a timeline, a selected bibliography, and source notes round out this excellent picture-book biography. Sam Bloom July/August 2021 p.135(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Art and protest meld perfectly in the life of a 20th-century artist. Born into a family of Jewish artisans in early-20th-century Lithuania, Ben Shahn wanted to draw, but there was no money for paper. Instead, he sketched in the margins of his book of Bible stories. After his father, a labor activist, was exiled to Siberia, the family eventually made their way to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Shahn was teased in school because of his accent but won the bullies over with his drawings. His teachers encouraged his talent. Having to quit school to work, Shahn was able to apprentice to a lithographer and attend art school. There, his teachers told him that "pictures should be beautiful--not real life." Shahn thought otherwise. He went on to paint 23 pictures of the Sacco-Vanzetti trial and worked for the FDR administration photographing the American "outsiders" who needed relief and painting murals for a new village for garment workers. Despite threats from the FBI during the McCarthy era, Shahn continued to paint protesters and peace lovers. Levinson's strong narrative is supported by emotive, brilliantly vibrant paintings in gouache, acrylic, pencil, chalk, and linoleum block prints. One triptych offers powerful images of the Shahns immigrating to NYC; it's followed by scenes of the neighborhood with its jumble of new streets and foods. Well-researched and -sourced, this is a valuable addition to the canon of artist biographies. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 42.4% of actual size.) This life of an artist with a social conscience makes itself heard. (Yiddish glossary, author's note, illustrator's note, timeline, select bibliography, source notes) (Picture book/biography. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Ben Shahn's first memories as a boy in his early twentieth-century Lithuanian village were of drawing. Because paper was scarce, the Jewish boy traced the Hebrew letters in his book of Bible stories and drew in the margins. From a young age, Shahn also had a strong sense of justice, particularly after his father was banished to Siberia for demanding fair pay for working people. This eloquent picture-­book biography focuses on Shahn's path to becoming an artist after he and his family escaped to America. While overcoming the hardships of being an immigrant, Shahn apprenticed as a lithographer by day and attended art school at night. With an emphasis on landscapes, art school quickly discouraged Shahn, who wanted to tell stories through his art. Turk's expressive paintings with exaggerated features evoke the spirit of Shahn and the artist's depictions of the immigrant experience, working people, and protests. Levinson highlights three of Shahn's greatest accomplishments: his Sacco and Vanzetti series, photos of the Great Depression, and the Jersey Homesteads mural from the New Deal era. A concluding author's note provides more information on Shahn's personal life, his social realism style, and his influence on children's author and illustrator Tomie dePaola. A thoughtful introduction to this social-justice artist. Grades 1-4. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

This profile of Jewish artist and activist Ben Shahn, who emigrated from Lithuania to America in 1906, highlights the threads of compassion and social justice that ran through his work. Shahn learned of injustice early in his life, witnessing his father's banishment to Siberia for "demanding fair pay for working people," and later experiencing anti-Semitism in America. Leaving school at age 14 to help support his family, Shahn attended art school at night while apprenticed to a lithographer. An unjust execution spurred Shahn's social realism paintings, attention to which resulted in the U.S. government hiring him to take photographs across America that "revealed hard lives in troubled times." Bold, richly layered multimedia illustrations by Turk feature abstracted characters in Shahn's style, while Levinson's smooth, well-researched narrative provides a comprehensive introduction to a justice-minded painter. Back matter includes an author's note, an illustrator's note, a timeline, and selected bibliography. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)