Nations UNite!
The United Nations celebrates its 55th anniversary today.American artist Ben Shahn was among several international artists commissioned by the Container Corporation of America to honor the allied nations that banded together to fight the Axis powers [during World War II]. The campaign, known collectively as "The United Nations Series," evolved from the corporation's increased activities in providing packaging for war materials and coincided with the establishment of its international division in 1944 with factories in Colombia, Mexico, and Panama.…
In some cases, the connection between artist and country was tenuous. Ben Shahn, though not a native of North Africa, had worked there after World War II as a salesman for an Arab merchant, and so was selected for that commission [shown here]. The work's subtitle, Gasoline travels in paper packages, helps to identify the foreground figure's square parcel.
Source: Martina Roudabush Norelli. Art, Design, and the Modern Corporation: The Collection of the Container Corporation of America. A Gift to the National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, 1985).
Pictured: Ben Shahn, 1898 Lithuania–1969 USA, North Africa, from the "United Nations Series", 1944, watercolor and gouache on paperboard, 15 7/8 x 12 5/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America.
The United Nations celebrates its 55th anniversary today.American artist Ben Shahn was among several international artists commissioned by the Container Corporation of America to honor the allied nations that banded together to fight the Axis powers [during World War II]. The campaign, known collectively as "The United Nations Series," evolved from the corporation's increased activities in providing packaging for war materials and coincided with the establishment of its international division in 1944 with factories in Colombia, Mexico, and Panama.…