Phoenix
Artist
Ben Shahn
(American, Lithuanian-born, 1898 - 1969)
Date1952
PeriodContemporary American
Place MadeNew York, United States, North America
MediumScreen print in black with hand coloring.
Dimensions66.7 x 54 cm (unframed); 90.2 x 73 x 3.2 cm (framed)
Credit LineGift of Ben Shahn Estate, 2015
Object number2021.2.67
On View
Not on viewLabel TextThis incomplete screen print shows a phoenix, a mythological creature that, after death, rises from the ashes of its funeral pyre to begin its life cycle anew. The symbol is a poignant reminder of how the Jews of Europe rose from the ashes of the Holocaust to rebuild their cultures and communities and to fight for justice against oppression. After the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, Holocaust survivors helped spread knowledge of the atrocities worldwide. Their tireless efforts helped support the passing of the Genocide Convention by the United Nations, an instrument of international law that codified and condemned the crime of genocide. Its adoption marked a crucial step towards the development of international human rights and international criminal law, as we know it today.
Notes
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