The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 25, 2025

For the Sake of a Single Verse

c. 1968

Ben Shahn

(American, 1898–1969)
printer

Mourlot

America
six lithographs on Arches wove paper
Gift of the Hawken School 2020.98
© Estate of Ben Shahn / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Ben Shahn began his career as a commercial lithographer, where he learned the techniques seen in this print.

Description

This print belongs to a series based on the German writer Rainer Maria Rilke’s autobiographical novel The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, which dealt with the challenge of artistic creation amid feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and defeat. American artist Ben Shahn used evocative images to suggest rather than directly interpret the poet’s words.
  • Hawken School, Gates Mills, OH
    March 2, 2020
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=For the Sake of a Single Verse|url=false|author=Ben Shahn, Mourlot|year=c. 1968|access-date=25 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.98