Ben Shahn, Visiting Artist Lecture 1959

Addressing questions submitted in advance, artist Ben Shahn talks about humanism and abstraction, the issue of trends in art, eclecticism and influence, and other philosophical issues, mostly dealing with his views on contemporary art. The speaker then opens the discussion to questions from the audience, which leads to exchanges on the social obligations of art, government support of the arts, critics and museum directors, a heated debate about the relative merits of Bill de Kooning and Alberto Burri, the difference between genuine and fake art, the danger of absolutes, and the subject of illustration or illumination as art.