Artwork Page for Refreshment counter stand at auction, Pickaway Livestock Cooperative Association

Details / Information for Refreshment counter stand at auction, Pickaway Livestock Cooperative Association

Refreshment counter stand at auction, Pickaway Livestock Cooperative Association

1938

Ben Shahn

(American, 1898–1969)
Culture
America
Medium
gelatin silver print
Measurements
Image: 16.6 x 24.2 cm (6 9/16 x 9 1/2 in.); Paper: 20.6 x 25.5 cm (8 1/8 x 10 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Samuel J. Lehr 2016.560
Copyright
© Estate of Ben Shahn / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

American painter and printmaker Ben Shahn also had a significant career as a photographer in the 1930s surveying the impact of the Great Depression on the American people. In July and August 1938, the Farm Security Administration, a federal agency, commissioned Shahn to cover the harvest in Central Ohio. His photographs constitute an invaluable in-depth portrait of rural and small town life in 1930s Ohio.
A horizontally oriented black-and-white photograph depicts two men with light skin tones at a wooden refreshment counter. Both face away from us; the man on our left wears a light hat and suspenders, and the man on our right drinks from a bottle. Behind the counter, a person faces left. Window panes on our left feature white lettering reading "Candy," "Peanuts," "Gum," "Ice Cream," and "Pop."

Refreshment counter stand at auction, Pickaway Livestock Cooperative Association

1938

Ben Shahn

(American, 1898–1969)
America

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