Ben Shahn, Born this Day 1898

Ben Shahn, Still Music, 1948, Casein on fabric mounted on plywood panel 48 x 83 1/2 in.; 121.92 x 212.09 cm.. Acquired 1949. Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

Ben Shahn‘s painting Still Music (1948) was created after he produced a series of drawings on commission for CBS  radio network brochures in 1948. Shahn also printed a nearly identical serigraph (or screen print) called Silent Music in 1950. Discussing his thoughts on working in both fine art and commercial art, Shahn said in a 1965 television interview, “I never let out a thing until I’d be as happy with it hanging in a museum or reproduced in a daily newspaper. I don’t care where.”

Shahn’s musical scene as used in CBS promotional radio materials.