Object number1976.88

Pretty Girl Milking the Cow

Date1940

Artist Ben Shahn (American, 1898-1969)

CultureAmerican

MediumTempera on paper, mounted to masonite

DimensionsUnframed: 22 x 30 in. (55.9 x 76.2 cm)
Framed: 27 5/16 x 35 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (69.4 x 89.9 x 2.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.

On View

Not on view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Painting

SignedSigned lower right: Ben Shahn

InscribedBy artist, upper right: P. M; on the reverse of the mount, by unidentified hand(s), upper center in black ink: 53.259[circled and scribbled out] / 54.875; upper right in white chalk: 1384; a full and partial typed label from The Museum of Modern Art; printed exhibition label with "341" from XXVII Venice Biennale, 1954; typed label from The Downtown Gallery, NY; printed and written exhibition label from the Ben Shahn 1967/1968 Retrospective at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art; and labels from Santini Brothers Fine Art Division and Bekins Van & Storage Co.; on the frame backing, a label from Kunsthaus Zürich and Städtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf

MarkingsOn the reverse of the mount, German customs stamp in black ink within circle and imperial eagle at center: ZOLLAMT GÜTERBAHNHOF [illegible]; Italian customs stamp upper right: [Illegible] DI ROMA - ufficio visite / TI

BibliographyPromised Gifts '77 (Poughkeepsie, NY: FLLAC, 1977), p. 53; Shahn, Ben, and James Thrall Soby. Ben Shahn: His Graphic Art. New York: G. Braziller, 1963, p. 63; Miller, Dorothy C., and Alfred Barr, Jr. Realists and Magic Realists. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1943, p. 52; Morse, John D. Ben Shahn. New York: Praeger, 1972, pl. 12; Rodman, Selden. Portrait of the Artist an an American. New York: Harper Bros., 1951, p. 77; Shahn, Bernarda Bryson. Ben Shahn. New York: Harry Abrams, 1972, pp. 132, 134-135; Pohl, Frances K. Ben Shahn. San Francisco: Chameleon Books, 1993, p. 63; Pratt, Davis. The Photographic Eye of Ben Shahn. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1975, p. 96; Prescott, Kenneth W. Ben Shahn: A Retrospective 1898-1969. Jewish Museum Catalogue, 1976, pp. 16-17 Katzman, Laura, et al. Madrid; Ben Shahn on Nonconformity, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia exhibition catalogue, 2023, p. 125 Katzman, Laura, et al. New York; Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2025, p. 125. ProvenanceDowntown Gallery, NY; purchased by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. c. 1947
Exhibition HistorySunday Paintings, Julien Levy Gallery, New York, NY, 1940;

1940-1941 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, November 27, 1940 - January 8, 1941;

American Realists and Magic Realists, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, February 10 - March 21, 1943;

Ben Shahn, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, September 30, 1947 - January 4, 1948 (possibly traveled to Boston and the UK);

XXVII Biennale Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte di Venezia, Venice, Italy, 1954;

Ben Shahn: Paintings and Graphics, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, July 30 - September 10, 1967; La Jolla Museum of Art (now Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego), San Diego, CA, October 5, 1967 - November 12, 1967; John Herron Museum of Art, Art Association of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, December 3, 1967 - January 3, 1968;

Promised Gifts '77, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, April 20 - May 22, 1977;

American Modern Art Between the Two World Wars, Städtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany, June 10 - August 12, 1979; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland August 23 - October 28, 1979; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium, November 10 - December 30, 1979;

Gatecrashers: The Rise of the Self-Taught Artist in America, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, August 21 - December 11, 2021

Ben Shahn on Nonconformity, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain, October 4, 2023 - February 26, 2024

DescriptionColor depiction of a man at center in a red shirt, black pants, and a cap sitting on the ground with his ankles crossed, playing a harmonica. Few trees are scattered around the composition and orange leaves litter the grass. A dirt path is visible to the left and on the right a post in the ground has the letters "P. M" painted at the top. The work is rendered in a detailed manner but with simplified forms.

Terms

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu