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Lot Essay
In 1956, the New York State Board of Education commissioned Ben Shahn to design a mural for the William E. Grady Vocational School in Brooklyn, New York. Earlier that year, Shahn visited Rome, Ravenna, Monreale and Cefalù in Sicily where he became enthralled with the various Byzantine and Early Christian mosaics so it was no surprise that Apotheosis, with its brightly colored palette and rich patterning, was finished in mosaic and mimics these early religious references.
Apotheosis encompasses many of the hallmarks of Ben Shahn's oeuvre and may be one of the most obvious examples of the influence of Shahn's Jewish immigrant background on his art. Religion, a recurring theme in Shahn's art, is prevalent in Apotheosis as is his passion for social activism and his love of storytelling. Each vignette tells a story, beginning on the left with the earth on a precarious perch and followed by a network of twisted steel which Shahn employs to illustrate the strain of war. These images are followed by a scorched building, a presumably deceased figure and a flurry of military tents to emphasize the inevitable destruction that is caused by war-including the fall of man, which is depicted in the next vignette. Shahn then uses this ultimate demise as an opportunity to suggest rebirth in the form of a phoenix consumed by fire to emulate the sun. It seems reasonable to assume that the passages to the right of the phoenix are meant to explain how the earth and mankind will be reborn after the destruction of man. These passages include astrology, architecture, painting, music and philosophy.
With the mural aptly placed in a school, these are all elements imperative to the foundation of education, which Shahn likely believed was the only power strong enough to prevent war. Each isolated image including the Fall of Mankind, Tents, Phoenix and Astrology were also rendered by the artist as separate composition demonstrating the importance of this iconography to his work. These illustrations summarize Shahn's vision of apotheosis-the elevation to divine status.
Apotheosis encompasses many of the hallmarks of Ben Shahn's oeuvre and may be one of the most obvious examples of the influence of Shahn's Jewish immigrant background on his art. Religion, a recurring theme in Shahn's art, is prevalent in Apotheosis as is his passion for social activism and his love of storytelling. Each vignette tells a story, beginning on the left with the earth on a precarious perch and followed by a network of twisted steel which Shahn employs to illustrate the strain of war. These images are followed by a scorched building, a presumably deceased figure and a flurry of military tents to emphasize the inevitable destruction that is caused by war-including the fall of man, which is depicted in the next vignette. Shahn then uses this ultimate demise as an opportunity to suggest rebirth in the form of a phoenix consumed by fire to emulate the sun. It seems reasonable to assume that the passages to the right of the phoenix are meant to explain how the earth and mankind will be reborn after the destruction of man. These passages include astrology, architecture, painting, music and philosophy.
With the mural aptly placed in a school, these are all elements imperative to the foundation of education, which Shahn likely believed was the only power strong enough to prevent war. Each isolated image including the Fall of Mankind, Tents, Phoenix and Astrology were also rendered by the artist as separate composition demonstrating the importance of this iconography to his work. These illustrations summarize Shahn's vision of apotheosis-the elevation to divine status.