Lot 276
This is Nazi Brutality - Poster Designed by Ben Shahn - U.S.A., 1942
This is Nazi Brutality, color offset lithograph printed by the United States Office of War Information (American propaganda bureau active during World War II). Washington, 1942. Design: Ben Shahn. English.
Illustration of a chained prisoner surrounded by brick walls; his head is covered with a hood. In the center is a caption reading "This is Nazi Brutality" and an official German notice of the destruction of the village of Lidice (Czechoslovakia) by the Nazis.
The poster was designed by the artist Ben Shahn (1898-1969) who worked at the time for the United States Office of War Information. The image created by Shahn was felt to be so disturbing that a Czech-American organization canceled the order of 40,000 copies of the poster.
See: Witnesses to History, the Jewish Poster 1770-1985, A Selection from the Judah L. Magnes Museum. Berkeley (California), 1989, p. 100.
96X72 cm. Good condition. Folding marks. Some tears to margins (one tear reinforced with adhesive tape). Minor holes near margins. Two ink stamps.
Provenance: Collection of Dr. Simon Cohen.
