Ben Shahn
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Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 - March 14 1969) was a Lithuanian-born American artist and teacher. He is best known for his works of Social Realism, and his series of lectures published as The Shape of Content.
He was born in Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania, to Joshua Hessel and Gittel (Lieberman) Shahn. His father was exiled to Siberia for alleged revolutionary activities in 1902, at which point Shahn, his mother, and his three younger siblings moved to Vilkomir. In 1906, the family immigrated to America where they rejoined Hessel, who had fled Siberia. They settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. Shahn began his path to becoming an artist in New York, where he was first trained as a typographer. Shahn's early experiences with typography and graphic design is apparent in his later prints and paintings which often include the combination of text and image.