Ben Shahn

Six

1952

Scroll

Ben Shahn

Six

Ben Shahn

Six

1952

Physical Qualities Tempera on linen over plywood, Framed: 51 x 38 x 3 in. (129.5 x 96.5 x 7.6 cm) Sight: 39 1/4 x 26 1/4 in. (99.7 x 66.7 cm)

Credit Line Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection

Object Number 1953.7

With tightly clasped hands, six figures sit in a row on folding chairs. They seem to be anxiously waiting. Ben Shahn made this painting in the same year that he published a similar composition in Harper’s Magazine alongside an article by journalist Mary Heaton Vorse (1874–1966) that uncovered the inhumane working conditions and exploitation of New York City’s longshoremen. Every day, longshoremen waited for the “shape”— the formation of a work crew. Only those who had an inside track with the union bosses were hired.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "American Modernism from the Collection," June 25, 2003-

Baltimore Museum of Art. The Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection. [Baltimore, MD]: Baltimore Museum of Art, [1964], page 13.