This broadly researched monograph, jargon-free and written in accessible prose, proves to be rewarding reading for those interested in a number of topics, including Jewish American art, American art, government-sponsored art, socially conscious art, immigration and labor history, and of course Ben Shahn himself.
~Samantha Baskind
Aided by extensive archival documentation, Linden’s work sheds new light not only on Shahn’s particular self-definition, but also on the external forces that shaped his options. In some cases, Shahn made accommodations for the sake of politics, while in other cases, he refused. By focusing on the artist’s agency in moments of negotiation, Linden helps us see him on his own terms, and the American scene in its full mix of glory and horror. Numerous glossy color illustrations—including historic and modern views of Shahn’s mural projects, details, photographs, archival sources, preparatory studies, and comparative works—beautifully enrich the telling of these stories by Linden. Wayne State University Press should be commended for producing such a beautiful book.
~Amy Werbel
Readers interested in Jewish American history, art history, and Depression-era American culture will enjoy this insightful book.
~Gabriel Milner
The story of these murals strongly resonates with current events in the US, and it deserves our attention.
~Andrea Pappas
This is where Linden’s book shines: in close, skillful readings of the murals, which will endure as landmarks of both American and Jewish visual art.
~Josh Lambert
In this fascinating and compelling look at Ben Shahn's New Deal murals in and around New York City, Diana Linden argues persuasively for the contingent and contextual character of Shahn's work as an American Jewish artist. Her enticing analysis mandates a trip to the Bronx Central Post Office to see Shahn's powerful mural for anyone visiting New York.
~Deborah Dash Moore, Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of History and Director, Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, University of Michigan and Author of Urban Origins of American Judaism
In this book, Ben Shahn's Depression-era murals finally receive the sustained and sympathetic analysis they so richly deserve. Deftly interweaving these works with his Jewish identity and the period's outspoken radicalism, Diana Linden helps us to view in new ways Shahn's evolution as an artist and to appreciate his artistic achievement.
~Eric Foner, Dewitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University
Each generation of art historians brings something new to the discipline; their publications reinvigorate old subjects with innovative insights. This is the case with Diana Linden's book on Ben Shahn. Linden has mined the historical record with skill and ingenuity and applied the latest theoretical perspectives on artistic practice, race, organized labor, immigration, the radical Left, and Jewish life in America in the first decades of the twentieth century to produce the most compelling analysis to date of Shahn's New Deal murals of the 1930s. Those who read this book will come away with a fuller understanding of what it meant to be a Jew, an immigrant, and an artist in the United States at a time when all three were the focus of intense public debate. The generous color reproductions also allow us to appreciate the strengths of Linden's close reading of Shahn's impressive and complex art.
~Frances K. Pohl, Dr. Mary Ann Vanderzyl Reynolds '56 Professorship in the Humanities and Professor of Art History, Pomona College