Description

A lyrically told, exquisitely illustrated biography of influential Jewish artist and activist Ben ShahnThe first thing I can remember, Ben said, I drew. As an observant child growing up in Lithuania, Ben Shahn yearns to draw everything he seesand, after seeing his father banished by the Czar for demanding workers rights, he develops a keen sense of justice, too. So when Ben and the rest of his family make their way to America, Ben brings both his sharp artistic eye and his desire to fight for whats right. As he grows, he speaks for justice through his artby disarming classmates who bully him because hes Jewish, by defying his teachers insistence that he paint beautiful landscapes rather than true stories, by urging the US government to pass Depression-era laws to help people find food and jobs. In this moving and timely portrait, award-winning author Cynthia Levinson and illustrator Evan Turk honor an artist, immigrant, and activist whose work still resonates today: a true painter for the people.