Artwork Page for For the Sake of a Single Verse

Details / Information for For the Sake of a Single Verse

Series Title: Rilke Portfolio

For the Sake of a Single Verse

c. 1968

Ben Shahn

(American, 1898–1969)
printer

Mourlot

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Culture
America
Medium
six lithographs on Arches wove paper
Credit Line
Gift of the Hawken School 2020.98
Edition
edition of 200
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
?

Did You Know?

Ben Shahn began his career as a commercial lithographer, where he learned the techniques seen in this print.

Description

This print belongs to a series based on the German writer Rainer Maria Rilke’s autobiographical novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, which dealt with the challenge of artistic creation amid feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and defeat. American artist Ben Shahn used evocative images to suggest rather than directly interpret the poet’s words.
A horizontally oriented print features six rectangular lithographs. At the top left, a striped beast stands in tall grass. The top center depicts a tangle of black lines, and at the top right, two men stand back-to-back. Below, the first scene shows a figure resting on a metal bed, followed by a dark profile with closed eyes, and a hunched figure hiding their face. All utilize black and gray ink.

For the Sake of a Single Verse

c. 1968

Ben Shahn, Mourlot

(American, 1898–1969)
America

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