The Shape of Content

A remarkably interesting book, which puts the reader in rewarding contact with a questing mind and a humane spirit. * The Atlantic *The clearest, most forceful statement on art by an artist of our time that I have read. – Frank Getlein * New Republic *[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 *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 *Points made in the collection are pertinent, lucid and most readable. A valuable addition to the appraisal of the condition of the arts. * Kirkus Reviews *

Ben Shahn (1898–1969) was an American painter, lithographer, and photographer. His work, commenting on major social issues such as racial discrimination, labor conditions, and the threat of atomic warfare, has been featured in retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid.

Adam Gopnik is a staff writer at the New Yorker and the New York Times bestselling author of ten books, including, most recently, The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery. A Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur, Gopnik has won three National Magazine Awards and the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting.