Item:
ONSV9430

Original U.S. WWII 1942 We French Workers Warn You... Defeat Means Slavery, Starvation, Death OWI Propaganda Poster by Ben Shahn

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an extremely rare original 1942 U.S. Government printed propaganda poster describing the occupation of France by Germany during World War Two.

French Workers, a painting characteristic of this movement, is an arresting image showing several workers raising their hands in protest. They are facing an official announcement of the decree issued by the collaborationist Government of Vichy on 4 September 1942, whereby France placed its working class at the disposal of the German war industry through the so-called “compulsory labour service.” Shahn, a Jewish artist, was ever ready to object to AH’s policies and, at the same time, denounce the similarities with certain behaviors in American life. It is telling that this painting should have been published as a poster by the Office of War Information (OWI), printed with the following statement: “We French workers warn you... / defeat means slavery, starvation, death.

Other examples of this poster can be found at the Library of Congress and the Metropolitan Museum of Art as seen as this link.

It is signed lower right, in image: Ben Shahn printed below image: OWI Poster No. 17 issued by the United States Office of War Information. Additional copies may be obtained from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D.C.

Overall condition of the poster is very good to excellent with expected edge wear and fold lines. Colors are vibrant. Measures approximately 28.5" x 38".

Ben Shahn, a painter and photographer of Lithuanian origin with a heightened social awareness belonging to the left wing of the so-called American Scene realist movement, devoted most of his artistic output to expressing his political and social concerns.
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