2. Beginnings
● Started in 1929; ended in the late 1950’s
● Influenced by European Realism
● Became an important art movement during the Great
Depression in America
● Artists had socialist political views
● Focused on the social, economic and political conditions
during the time, especially on the lives of the working class
and poor
● “Works that portrayed the truth of society”
● Paintings, photographs, films, print
3. Key Ideas And Concepts
● Depicts figurative and realistic image of the masses of
the time
● Artists envision themselves as part of the working class,
often wearing overalls to symbolize unity with the
working class
● Artists believed themselves to be the critical thinking
members of society rather than the upper class
● Artists focused on the human figure and condition
during that time
4. Leading Artists
● Grant Wood
● Edward Hopper
● David Alfaro Siqueiros
● Diego Rivera
● Charles Wilbert White
5. Artist: Grant Wood
Title: American Gothic
Year: 1930
Medium: Oil on beaverboard
Size: 30 ¾ x 25 ¾ in
Location: Art Institute of Chicago
6. Grant Wood painted the American
Gothic in 1930. The paintings
shows a farmer standing beside a
woman, whom people interpret to
be either his wife or daughter. The
figures were modeled by Wood's
sister and their dentist. This
painting served as Wood’s big
break - he instantly became
famous after its release.
7. Artist: Edward Hopper
Title: Nighthawks
Year: 1942
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 33 ⅛ x 60 in
Location: Art Institute of Chicago
8. The scene was supposedly
inspired by a diner (which is has
now been demolished) in
Greenwich Village, Hopper's
neighborhood in Manhattan. The
red haired customer in the
painting was modeled after
Hopper’s wife, Jo. Hopper
stated, “unconsciously,
probably, I was painting the
loneliness of a large city.”
9. Artist: Edward Hopper
Title: New York Movie
Year: 1939
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 33 ⅛ x 60 in
Location: Museum of Modern
Art
10. Hopper’s wife, Jo, was the
model for the woman in the
painting. To pose for the
painting, Jo stood under a lamp
in their apartment. Hopper is
known for playing with light in
his paintings, which is again
evident in this painting.
11. Artist: David Alfaro Siqueiros
Title: Portrait of Present Day
Mexico
Year: 1932
Medium: Mural
Size: unknown
Location: Private collection
12. Artist: Diego Rivera
Title: Frozen Assets
Year: 1931
Medium: Mural
Size: 94 ⅛ x 74 3/16
Location: Museo Dolores
Olmedo
14. Artist: Elizabeth Catlett
Title: I Have Special
Reservations
Year: 1946
Medium: Linoleum cut
Size: 6 5/16 x 6 ¼, 13 ¾ x 10
Location: Museum of
Modern Art
15. Later Developments
● Social Realism was not used as much towards the late
1940’s and 1950’s
● Social Realism never completely died out and is still part
of contemporary art
● There has been a resurgence in interest in Social
Realism in the 1980’s
16. Influence and Legacy
● It made people socially aware of what was happening
around them
● It shed light on issues of the working class
● More artists started using it as a form of reform and
political expression
● Even after its peak, artists continued to make art
relating to social realism (even in the present day)
17. Influence on Philippine Art
Artist: Antipas
Delotavo
Title: Easterly Winds
Year: 2009
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 60 x 48 in
Location: unknown
18. Influence on Philippine Art
This piece talks
about the Filipino
farmers and other
agricultural workers.
19. Influence on Philippine Art
Artist: Imelda Cajipe-Endaya
Title: Pasyong Bayan
Year: 1983
Medium: Oil on canvas,
collage on sawali mounted on
plywood (3 pieces total)
Size: 70 x 207.28 in
Location: Metropolitan
Museum of Manila
20. Influence on Philippine Art
“Expresses the
people’s rage against
the human-rights
violations
perpetrated by a
dictatorial regime
(Martial Law) that
resulted in the loss of
our democratic
freedoms.” -Endaya
21. Influence on Philippine Art
Artist: Neil Doloricon
Title: Force of Production
Year: 2014
Medium: Woodcut
Size: 15.5 x 35.5 in
Location: unknown
22. Influence on Philippine Art
This work represents the injustice
and reality of workers who work in
dehumanizing and harsh working
conditions.
23. Group’s Evaluation of the Art Movement
● Social Realism is meant to inspire the masses to
work hard to continue the functioning society
● The art movement is very expressive and depicts
the reality of the people’s lives
● The art exposes the truth of how society
functions with the help of the working class
