american social realism completed april 21

By: Kristen Randall and Anna Gorzalski

American Social Realism1930-1945

An art movement in which artists used murals, paintings, and photography to depict the lives

of the American people during the Great Depression in both the rural and urban setting to bring hope to Americans and to reveal the

flaws of the American system.

Definition of American Social Realism

“Christina’s World” Andrew Wyeth

Influences of American Social Realism

Industrial Revolution

Realism

Ashcan School

Mexican Revolution

Great Depression

Wide gap between social classes and lifestyles

Rise of Marxism

Invention of the camera

Government involvement in the arts

“Stag at Sharkey’s” 1909 George Bellows

Ashcan School

“McSorley’s Bar” 1912 John Sloan

Great Depression: Government Involvement

“Subway” 1934 Lily Furedi

Mural funded by the Works and Progress Administration

The Artists

“Welcome Home” 1946 Jack Levine

“The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” 1931 Grant Wood

“Lest We Forget”

1937

Ben Shahn

Thomas Hart Benton

“Bootleggers” 1927

“Loggin’ Train.” 1928 Thomas Hart Benton

“Plowing it Under” 1934 Thomas Hart Benton

“City Activities” 1930 T.H.B .

Thomas Hart Benton

“Tobacco Sorters” 1944

Thomas Hart Benton “Poker Night” 1948

Reactions to Thomas Hart Benton

•Either absolutely loved or absolutely hated

•Known for being very controversial and outspoken

“Unemployment” 1938 Ben Shahn

“Man by the Railroad Track”

1935-36

Ben Shahn

“Sacco and Vanzetti” 1931 Ben Shahn

“Vacant Lot” 1935

Ben Shahn

“Coal miner’s child, Omar, WV”1935

Ben Shahn

“Break Reaction’s

Grip Register to

Vote”

1944

Ben Shahn

Dorothea Lange

“Migrant Mother” 1936

“Bring the viewer to your side, include him in your thought. He is not a bystander. You have the power to increase his perceptions and conceptions.”

Woman of the High Plains “If You Die, You’re Dead–That’s All.” 1938

Dorothea Lange

“Migrant Camp Washing” 1938 Dorothea Lange

“Migratory Cotton Picker , Eloy, Arizona” 1940

One of Chris Adolf's younger children.   1939.

“White Angel Breadline” 1932

Dorothea Lange’s Influence

Grant Wood“Woman

with Plant(s)”

1929

“The Appraisal” 1931 Grant Wood

“Cape Cod Sunset” 1934 Edward Hopper

“Young Corn” 1931 Grant Wood

“Parson Weem’s Fable” 1939 Grant Wood

“Daughters of the Revolution” 1942 Grant Wood

American

Social

Realism

Impact

End of American Social Realism