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©
Ben Shahn, VEGAP, Madrid
Ben Shahn

French Workers

1942
Tempera on Cardboard.
101.6 x 144.8 cm
Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Inv. no.
753
(
1975.34
)
Room 45
Level 1
Permanent Collection
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Postpop rooms Rodin room
30 18th and 19th Centuries. Transatlantic Relations 31 19th Century. American Landscape and Environmental Awareness 32 19th Century. American Landscape and Urban Life 33 Recovering the ligth. Restoration of Waterloo Bridge, by André Derain 34 20th Century. Expressionist Landscapes 35 20th Century. Expressionist Portraits 36 20th Century. The Language of the Body 37 20th Century. Urban unrest 38 20th Century. Flowers 39 20th Century. Pioneers of abstraction 40 20th Century. Popular flavor 41 20th Century. The Cubist Tradition I 42 20th Century. The Cubist Tradition II 43 20th Century. Abstract Utopias 44 20th Century. Dada and Surrealism 45 20th Century. Interwar Realisms 46 20th Century. American Abstraction I 48 20th Century. Post-ward American Art 49 20th Century. Post-ward European Figurative Art 50 20th Century. Informalisms 51 20th Century. Homo Ludens 52 20th Century. Pop Art 53 Postpop rooms 54 Postpop rooms 55 Postpop rooms 56 Postpop rooms Rodin Exhibition room

Ben Shahn, a painter and photographer of Lithuanian origin with a heightened social awareness belonging to the left wing of the so-called American Scene realist movement, devoted most of his artistic output to expressing his political and social concerns.

French Workers, a painting characteristic of this movement, is an arresting image showing several workers raising their hands in protest. They are facing an official announcement of the decree issued by the collaborationist Government of Vichy on 4 September 1942, whereby France placed its working class at the disposal of the German war industry through the so-called “compulsory labour service.” Shahn, a Jewish artist, was ever ready to object to Hitler’s policies and, at the same time, denounce the similarities with certain behaviours in American life. It is telling that this painting should have been published as a poster by the Office of War Information (OWI), printed with the following statement: “We French workers warn you... / defeat means slavery, starvation, death.”

The person in the centre of the foreground is accorded greater prominence and is the only figure whose facial features are shown. The rest of the motley group is an anonymous mass. The artist places the full emphasis of the scene on the workers’ raised arms in a sign of protest, in poses that recall certain works by Picasso, and on the exaggeratedly enlarged hands that denote manual work. Concern about manual work, a topical issue in America following the New Deal, spawned a proliferation of images devoted to the working class in the visual arts, perhaps with the underlying belief that art and artists could help improve their situation. Shahn himself wrote that “my credo is that, the artist, in the very business of keeping his integrity, begins to supply some of the moral stamina our country needs.”

Paloma Alarcó

20th Centurys. XX - Realismos en NorteaméricaWork on paperTemperaCardboard
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French Workers. Obreros franceses, 1942
French Workers
Ben Shahn

©

Ben Shahn, VEGAP, Madrid

Terms of Use

The exploitation rights of the images correspond to the Fundacion Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza, F.S.P. The Fundación authorizes the downloading of high-resolution images from its website for private use, use for educational and research purposes and non-commercial uses.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the images set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from VEGAP (www.vegap.es), or from the corresponding collective management organization in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

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Any use other than those indicated above will require the prior written authorization of the Fundación.

Any request for educational and research use or for non-commercial use (including academic publications), should be directed by email to the Museum Photo Library through the email address archivo.fotografico@museothyssen.org. This department manages the worldwide distribution of the images of the works of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the management of their reproduction rights for those uses.

The user agrees to use the image of the website solely and exclusively for the purposes described above and in accordance with the following terms of use, which, however, do not apply to the reproduction of the works included in the photographs, as they are protected by Copyright.

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French Workers. Obreros franceses, 1942
French Workers
Ben Shahn

©

Ben Shahn, VEGAP, Madrid

Terms of Use

The Photo Library of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza offers sale and rental service of photographic material of all the works on its Permanent Collection.

To request images or permits for commercial use in academic or research publications, that is, catalogues of other institutions, monographs and other specialized publications, you should contact the Museum's Photo Library by email at the e-mail @email.

To request images or permits for other commercial or advertising uses (general publications, merchandising, exhibitions, audio-visual works, web pages, etc.), you should contact the Museum's Commercial Archive by email at the e-mail @email.

The Photo Library and the Museum's Commercial Archive manage the worldwide distribution of images of the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza works, as well as their reproduction rights. The applicable rates are calculated based on the nature and proposed use of the images, as well as the availability of the requested image.

Requests for scans or new photographs will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Once approved, an additional fee will apply. Re-photographing a work will require a minimum of six weeks to complete.

However, photographed works are protected by copyright. Therefore, regardless of the terms of use of the photographs set out below by the Foundation, it will be necessary to obtain a license from  VEGAP (Visual Entidad de Gestión de Artistas Plásticos www.vegap.es) or from the corresponding collective management organizations in the country where the work is going to be used or, where appropriate, from the holder of their rights in order to reproduce or exploit the work.

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