Anti-Semitism

Father Caughlin

by Ben Shahn

Catholic priest Father Charles Coughlin became nationally known in the 1930s as a radio speaker, famous for denouncing organized labor, the New Deal, and Jews.  His radically conservative views were an easy target for artists such as Shahn. 

Shahn’s painting shows Coughlin as a fanatical speaker, fist raised and head twisted into a pose not unlike Adolf Hitler’s.