Born in Lithuania in 1898, Ben Shahn emigrated with his family to New York in 1906. There he became an apprentice to a lithographer, and while his work involved creating commercial prints, his experience influenced his artistic style. Indeed, Shahn would experiment with a number of media during his career, including photography and painting. He became involved with the Social Realism movement, and much of his work has a very sociopolitical agenda. He was commissioned by the Farm Security Administration during the 1930s to record the condition of the destitute rural workers. He continued along the vein of political art during the 1940s, creating war posters for government agencies, such as the Office of War Information. Regardless, Shahn was always primarily concerned with the expression of the human condition, which he executed through drawings, photographs, prints, paintings, and even some writing. Always evident in Shahn's work is an empathy with the subjects he portrays1.

1 "Ben Shahn" George Krevsky Gallery, 2005.