Jewish Museum Print: Decalogue by Ben Shahn with Gold Leaf

This reproduction of Decalogue by Ben Shahn is printed on cold, press acid-free art paper and features elegant hand-applied gold leaf to the artwork's Hebrew letters, similar to the original.  Produced for the Jewish Museum by Ketubah.com.

For the piece, Shahn uses the first Hebrew letter of the first word of each of the Ten Commandments. To create the lettering accurately, he consulted with his neighbor Morris Bressler, a Hebrew scholar and singer of Yiddish and Russian folk songs, and Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, a renowned Talmud scholar, a dominant leader in Conservative Judaism, and president of the Jewish Theological Seminary; Finkelstein was also a central figure in the founding of the Jewish Museum. 

Decalogue, 1961
Ben Shahn  (American, b. Lithuania, 1898-1969)
Gouache and gold leaf on paper, 38 3/4 × 25 1/4 in. (98.4 × 64.1 cm.)
The Jewish Museum, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Albert A. List Family, JM 136-72
© 2025 Estate of Ben Shahn / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

The exhibition Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity is on view at the Jewish Museum May 23 - October 12, 2025 and presents the first U.S. retrospective in nearly half a century dedicated to social realist artist and activist Ben Shahn (1898-1969).

Archival printed paper with gold leaf
22"h x 15"w