1. American
Social Realism
Nicole Fude
Lindsay Magaldi
Grant Mckinney

2. What is it?
Mainly focuses on lower-class Americans in urban
settings, and on their hardships and
surroundings
Attempts to create art that is truly American in
subject and style (rather than copying European
innovations and movements)
Rejects the abstract styles that many modern art
movements utilized
Mediums include, but not limited to,
photography, prints, etchings, and of course,
different methods of painting like oil and

3. Social Realism was developed as a reaction
against idealism and the exaggerated ego
encouraged by Romanticism. Consequences of
the Industrial Revolution became apparent;
urban centers grew, slums proliferated on a
new scale contrasting with the display of
wealth of the upper classes. With a new
sense of social consciousness, the Social
Realists pledged to “fight the beautiful
art”, any style which appealed to the eye
or emotions.

4. ● They focused on the ugly realities of
● contemporary life and sympathized with
● working-class people, particularly the
● poor. They recorded what they saw (“as it
● existed”) in a dispassionate manner. The
● public was outraged by Social Realism, in
● part, because they didn't know how to look
● at it or what to do with it

5. Two American
Realist Movements
Social Realism Scene Painting/Regionalism
Focuses on lower-
classes, particularly Focuses on settings and
those of New York objects distinctly
Immigrants and identifiable as American
laborers are common
subjects
Often depicts farmers and
Draws attention to their work
poor living
conditions
Champions values such as
Often promoted
communist
hard work and independence
sentiment
Promotes American patriotism and

6. Compare/Contrast
Social Realism Regionalism
Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother Grant Wood, American Gothic
(1936) (1930)

7. Influences on Social
Realism
Robert Henri and his Ashcan Artists hold
the "Independent Exhibit of Artists" in
1910, with many paintings depicting New
York City and the lower classes.
The Progressive Era brought "muckrakers",
journalists who went to great lengths to
find the truth and to spread awareness of
social problems.
Finally, the Great Depression convinced
many that capitalism had failed. It also
inspired some artists to portray the
hardship around them.

8. Diego Rivera
Born in Mexico in 1886, died in 1957
Helped found the Communist Party in Mexico
Mainly a painter of murals that portrayed
the everyday life and work of the lower
class
One famous mural displayed in the Detroit
Institute of Art is Detroit Industry (1933)

9. Detroit Industry, 1933

10. The Arsenal, 1928

11. Edward Hopper
Born in 1882, died in 1967
One of Robert Henri's students,
but he considered himself
separate from the "Ashcans"
Preferred to paint scenes with
very few people depicted

12. Girl at Sewing Machine, 1921

13. Automat 1927

14. Dorothea Lange
Born in 1895, died in 1965
Worked as a photographer during
the Depression, documenting the
plight of the poor and homeless

15. Migrant Mother, 1936

16. The White Angel Breadline, 1933

17. Ben Shahn
Born in Lithuania in 1898, died in 1969.
As such, he had a lot of sympathy for
immigrants, demonstrated by his series of
paintings known as The Passion of Sacco
and Vanzetti
Worked with Dorothea Lange during the
Depression, taking photos to document the
poverty

18. The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1932

19. Lest We Forget, 1937

20. Reginald Marsh
Born in France in 1898, died in 1954
Portrayed lots of New York street
life
Also had a fondness for portraying
women in provocative positions

21. ● Usherette, 1939

22. The Park Bench, 1932

23. Jacob Lawrence
Born in 1917, died in 2000.
Lawrence's paintings are less "realistic"
than that of other social realists
He created "sets" of paintings, almost like
a comic strip
He based many paintings on his experiences
and his observations in Harlem

24. Carpenters, 1977

25. The Migration of the Negro, panel 1, 1941