Ben Shahn: Aggrieved Men and Nuclear Fallout during the Cold War

Abstract

Between 1957 and 1966 Ben Shahn regularly tackled the dangers of nuclear fallout in drawings, paintings, and posters. In devoting his art to the cause of nuclear disarmament, Shahn eschewed the particular for what he called “the universal.” Dispensing with identifying details of physiognomy, Shahn portrayed generalized male types, as physical victims of war and as psychologically traumatized by anxiety about the arms race. In his quest for the universal, Shahn focused on aggrieved male types, extending compassion across ethnic, national, and ultimately racial divides and encouraging bonds between strangers during the Cold War.