| ALL THAT IS BEAUTIFUL BEN SHAHN 1965 hand-colored screenprint on paper
Object Details Dimensions: sheet 26 x 38.875 x inches Inscriptions: in brown crayon front BC "Ben Shahn" Classification: Prints; Edition Prints/Proofs Physical Description: A black and white screenprinted city skyline with hand-colored additions. Printed vertically in the sky is the following text "All that is beautiful. But for remembrance' sake. The art of Pheidias." Owner: Walker Art Center Accession Number: 2010.36 Credit Line: Gift of Miriam and Erwin Kelen, 2010 |
Ben Shahn’s work “All That Is Beautiful” represents itself as a postmodern piece in a few distinct ways. Like critics and postmodern artists themselves say, this genre of art focuses on the background of the piece, the culture from which it originated rather than the piece itself. In “All That Is Beautiful”, a viewer can surmise that the work represents a city that the artist either lived in or worked in. In the city during the time of the work’s creation, there was construction growing over the older buildings (cathedrals for example). Because the screenprint is simple in its details, it makes the purpose of the work more focused on what the city is about rather than the craft of the piece or the techniques it applied. I think this work fits all the attributes of a postmodernist painting because it relies more on the subject, background and message than the craft of the work.
Addie Elling Thursday Sept. 23rd
Do you think that the work may be about the growth of the city, or be using the metaphor of urban growth to discuss something else? Itt does allude to some other content in the text that is printed in the sky (which is its title) , as well.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, it would be interesting to see what you could come up with via a little research...