The Shape of Content (Charles Eliot Norton Lectures 1956-1957) (The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures)

This is the best part in my opinion, and a part of my manifesto: Shahn's "capsule recommendation for a course of education"."Attend a university if you possibly can. There is no content of knowledge that is not pertinent to the work you will want to do. But before you attend a university work at something for a while. Do anything. Get a job in a potato field; or work as a grease-monkey in an auto repair shop. But if you do work in a field do not fail to observe the look and the feel of earth and of all things that you handle — yes, even potatoes! Or, in the auto shop, the smell of oil and grease and burning rubber. Paint of course, but if you have to lay aside painting for a time, continue to draw. Listen well to all conversations and be instructed by them and take all seriousness seriously. Never look down upon anything or anyone as not worthy of notice. In college or out of college, read. And form opinions! Read Sophocles and Euripides and Dante and Proust. Read everything that you can find about art except the reviews. Read the Bible; read Hume; read Pogo. Read all kinds of poetry and know many poets and many artists. Go to and art school, or two, or three, or take art courses at night if necessary. And paint and paint and draw and draw. Know all that you can, both curricular and noncurricular — mathematics and physics and economics,logic and particularly history. Know at least two languages besides your own, but anyway, know French. Look at pictures and more pictures. Look at every kind of visual symbol, every kind of emblem; do not spurn signboards of furniture drawings of this style of art or that style of art. Do not be afraid to like paintings honestly or to dislike them honestly, but if you do dislike them retain an open mind. Do not dismiss any school of art, not the Pre-Raphaelites nor the Hudson River School nor the German Genre painters. Talk and talk and sit at cafés, and listen to everything, to Brahms, to Brubeck, to the Italian hour on the radio. Listen to preachers in small town churches and in big city churches. Listen to politicians in New England town meetings and to rabble-rousers in Alabama. Even draw them. And remember that you are trying to learn to think what you want to think, that you are trying to co-ordinate mind and hand and eye. Go to all sorts of museums and galleries and to the studios of artists. Go to Paris and Madrid and Rome and Ravenna and Padua. Stand alone in Sainte Chapelle, in the Sistine Chapel, in the Church of the Carmine in Florence. Draw and draw and paint and learn to work in many media; try lithography and aquatint and silk-screen. Know all that you can about art, and by all means have opinions. Never be afraid to become embroiled in art of life or politics; never be afraid to learn to draw or paint better than you already do; and never be afraid to undertake any kind of art at all, however exalted or however common, but do it with distinction."

I read this forty years ago and, to a young artist it was of use. But, I was not at the stage where I could fully appreciate the depth of Shahn's message (very few young men listen to old men). For the serious artist, for the artist who has got past the self-inflicted traps of ego and insecurity, for the artist who has developed substantial skill sets...this will provide a useful guide as to WHY we make pictures.The eponymous essay, The Shape of Content, is a linchpin for any narrative artist. If you have a message to deliver this goes right to the very heart of content in art.Not for those chic artists in black clothing we see cadging free wine at gallery openings, but for those who are in it for the long haul, for those who understand that art is a profession not a sacred calling or a fashion accessory but, for those who understand there is a visual language that is quite separate from a verbal or literate language, this book will prove useful.

I ordered this book from gatecitybooks as a used, good (I think). It arrived in almost perfect condition, there might be two pages with a very thin highlighter lines. Almost brand new.As for the book itself, it is my chosen book to write a paper on for one of my art history courses. I'm not that far into the book yet, but from what I've read so far I really enjoy it.

Until I read this book, I had never taken an interest in Ben Shahn or his work. Now, I do! He is an artist's artist! As a writer he didn't shy from self-criticism or being a critic of his own profession. At the same time he champions Art and Artists and puts forth his personal experiences as a conduit to a public's understanding of their purpose in society and life in general. Regarding the book's title essay: The "Shape of Content" - Shahn distills his many thoughts down to this: that there is nothing calling itself "Art" that doesn't have content - however simple, basic ,and screaming to be "unobjective."

Absolutely Brilliant!!! He describes things that only working artists experience and things that I thought only I suffered through. Makes me feel great - not so alone! Should be required reading for everyone in any creative endeavor.

The best book on the philosophy of Art that I have ever read. Excellent work easy to read.

liked it all.

Must read for the creative. Written well. Timeless advice for the young student and prospective for the rest of us.

"...we cannot 'teach' art; we can only hope to facilitate it by asking the right questions; by poking and prodding with provocative ideas just enough to spur students onto their own ideas, questions, and methods of creating." Kimberley Bryant

This essay written decades ago is as relevant today as it was in the fifties. If you are wanting an overview into visual culture then this really does the job - by a master.

Este livro, de pequeno formato (próximo de um A5), 131 páginas são os pensamentos do artista Ben Shahn à respeito da arte.O conteúdo está dividido em seis temas. Envio uma foto de amostra.

This book is insightful and informative on how to find spirit through art, how an art education should be managed and Shahn's personal history as an artist.

These are brilliantly considered talks that really give artists a lot to think about!