The Shape of Content: 19 (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures) - Softcover

The book is the clearest, most forceful statement on art by an artist of our time that I have read. -- Frank Getletin New Republic To find a lucid painter speaking lucidly of art is a thrilling discovery...[He traces] the formation of painting from idea to completion, both generally and specifically with a clarity of thought and a precise use of language which should be a very archetypal model for all critics and painters alike. Virginia Quarterly Review A remarkably interesting book, which puts the reader in rewarding contact with a questing mind and a humane spirit. The Atlantic Mr. Shahn "sets forth his views on both the practice and the purposes of art with a clarity, cogency, and incisiveness that any professional writer might envy, and he manages to interweave with this a good deal of interesting material about his own development as an artist, as well as a running summary of his opinions on contemporary painting in general...the book is highly controversial...also highly stimulating. New Yorker In this brilliant book, which brings the many talents of Ben Shahn...into one crisp, clear, unified, astounding career, the primary focus is the exploration and explanation of the relationship between Shahn's paintings and photographs...The first half of the book consists of four exquisitely written essays by Kao, Katzman, and Webster, beautifuly illustrated with superb reproductions of Shahn's photographs and related materials, including detailed notes. The second half is an exhibition catalog with a wealth of quality reproductions of his paintings and photographs. -- J. Natal Choice

In his 1956-57 Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, the Russian-born American painter Ben Shahn sets down his personal views of the relationship of the artist-painter, writer, composer-to his material, his craft, and his society. He talks of the creation of the work of art, the importance of the community, the problem of communication, and the critical theories governing the artist and his audience.