Social Realism by Shannon Fitzpatrick and Amanda Kilgore

1. American Social Realism
1930-1960
Amanda and Shannon

2. Inspiration
• The French Social Realism movement
occurred in the mid-1800s
• Adopted by America in early 1900s
• Reaction from:
– The Great Depression
– The New Deal
– The Industrial Revolution
– Civil Rights Movement
– WWI

3. How It Started
• Ashcan School
– 5 painters that began
the Social Realism
movement
– Common scenes in
rough city life
– Inspired other artists
and helped create the
movement
“Snow In New York”
Robert Henri 1902

4. How It Started
• Stemmed from
– American Scene
– American Gothic
– Regionalism art

5. American Scene VS Social
Realism
“Migrant Mother” Dorthea Lange 1936

6. American Gothic VS Social
Realism
“American Gothic” Grant Wood 1930 “Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco”
Ben Shahn 1931-1932

7. American Regionalism Vs.
Social Realism
Grant Wood "Appraisal" Will Barnet “Labor Workers”

8. Previous Movements
• Rebelled against
anything visually
appealing or
emotionally
pleasing
• Particularly
disagreed with
Idealism and
Romanticism
“Wanderer Above Sea of Fog”
Caspar David Friedrich 1818

9. What It Means
• Statement about:
– Everyday routines and
conditions
– Social issues
• Working class and the poor
– Racial/political injustices
• War, prohibition, civil rights
movement

10. Ben Shahn (1898-1969)
• Inspiration
– Evolved separately from the Ashcan
painters
– Religion
– Growing up a poor, ethnic minority
– World War I
– Civil Rights Movement
– Sacco and Vanzetti trial

11. Ben Shahn
• Style/Technique
– Duo-tones
– Scattering of focus/movement
– Moment in time
– Attachment/detachment
– Elongated bodies and faces
– Symbolism, color, and line

12. What It Means
Ben Shahn, "Scotts Run, West Virginia."

13. “Handball” Ben Shahn 1939

14. “J. Robert Oppenheimer” Ben Shahn
1904-1967

15. “Parade for Repeal” Ben Shahn 1933

16. Ben Shahn
• Paintings
• Posters
• Murals
• Graphic Arts
• Advertisements
• Photographs

17. “For All These Fights We’ve Just Begun to Fight” Ben
Shan 1946

18. Ben Shahn
• “We are living in a time when
civilization has become highly expert in
the art of destroying human beings and
increasingly weak in its power to give
meaning to their lives.”

19. Social Realism in Photography:
Dorothea Lange
“Migrant Mother” Dorothea Lange 1936

20. “Migrant Family in Refugee Camp” Dorothea Lange

21. “Polk County, Oregon” Dorothea Lange 1939

22. “Migrant Mother (Alternative)” Dorothea Dix 1936

23. Diego Rivera

24. Diego Rivera
• Style Influences
– Cubism
– Post Impressionism
• Paul Cézanne
– Italian Renaissance Fresco Painters
– Aztecs
– Frieda Kahlo

25. “Young Man in Gray Sweater (Jacques Lipchitz)” Diego River 1914

26. Diego Rivera
• Influences
– Mexican Revolution
– Working Class
– Indigenous people
– Aztecs
– Russian Revolution (communism)

27. Diego Rivera
• Style
– Fresco
– Narrative
– Lineal
– Vibrant colors
– Simple shapes

28. “Retrato de Ignacio Sanchez” Diego Rivera 1927

29. “Flower Festival Feast of Santa Anita” Diego Rivera 1931

30. “The Flower Carrier” Diego Rivera 1935

31. “Agrarian Leader Zapata” Diego Rivera 1931

32. “Mural Palacio Nacional” Diego Rivera, Mexico City

33. “Mural Palacio Nacional” Diego Rivera, Mexico City

34. “Mural Palacio Nacional” Diego Rivera, Mexico City

35. ”Detroit Industry” Diego Rivera 1932-33

36. ”Detroit Industry” Diego Rivera 1932-33

37. “Man at the Crossroads” Diego Rivera 1933-34

38. “Man, Controller of the Universe” Diego Rivera 1934

39. Conclusion
• Inspired by events and conditions of the
time.
• Showing everyday routines and conditions
• Social issues of the poor and working
class
• Political statements