1. SOCIAL
REALISM
By: Menn Chen and Rachel Dazer

2. DEFINITION/BACKGROUND
 Art movement that emphasizes everyday conditions
of the working Midwestern middle class and the
poor.
 Depression era
 Started in the 1930s

3. ORIGIN
 Ashcan School
 Documented everyday life in New York City
 Urban street settings and unglamorized paintings
 Challenged impressionists and social academics

4. GRANT WOOD
 Born 1891 in Anmosa, Iowa
 Influenced by his small farm town
 Used people he knew as subjects in his paintings
 Died in 1942

5. GRANT WOOD
 “American Gothic” 1930
 Most famous/recognized
 Many symbols
 Reactions

6. GRANT WOOD
 “Stone City, Iowa”
1930
 Reality vs.
Fantasy

7.  “Woman with
Plants” 1929
 Grant’s mother

8. “APPRAISAL” 1931

9. THOMAS HART BENTON
 Born in 1889, died in 1975
 Influenced by muralists like
Diego Rivera
 Closely associated with
Regionalism

10. “A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE STATE OF
MISSOURI” 1936

11. INDIANA MURALS 1933
“Parks, the
Circus, the
Klan, the Press”

12. “THE WRECK OF THE OLE '97” 1943

13. DOROTHEA LANGE
 Born in Hoboken, NJ. (1865-1965)
 Documentary photographer during the Great
Depression and World War I.
 Struggled physically and emotionally growing up.
 Worked for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).
 Photography focused on the hardships people
suffered and the emotions behind it.

14. “MIGRANT MOTHER” (1936) DOROTHEA LANGE

15. “ONE NATION INDIVISIBLE” (1942) DOROTHEA LANGE

16. MIGRANT COTTON PICKER” (1940) DOROTHEA LANGE

17. ANDREW WYTHE
 Born in Chadds Ford, PA. (1917-2009)
 Homeschooled growing up.
 Parents supported his interest in art.
 Paintings are very focused in detail and composition.
 Paintings either done in Chadds Ford, PA or Cushing,
ME.
 In 1945, his father and nephew died in an railway
accident. It had an impact on his paintings.
 Has over 300 paintings in total.

18. ANDREW WYTHE’S PAINTING STYLE
 Realism and Regionalism influence.
 Used egg tempura and the dry brush technique for most
of his paintings.
 Egg Tempura: raw egg yolk mixed with vinegar, water,
and pure powdered vegetable.
 Provides depth of color.
 Dry Brush Technique: tiny amount of damp paint is
applied to a brush and then every detail is painted lightly.
 Drawn Effect.
 Color Palette: mainly good, blue, charcoal, and brown.

19. “CHRISTINA’S WORLD” (1948) ANDREW WYTHE

20. “BRAIDS” (1977) ANDREW WYTHE

21. “PENTECOST” (1989) ANDREW WYTHE

22. REACTIONS
 Reacted rather positively.
 People could relate to the subject and emotion of
the artwork.
 More aware of what was going on in other parts of
the U.S.

23. INFLUENCE
 Social Realism has a big impact in today’s society.
 Photography considered as a form of art.
 Appears in press, digital media, and popular culture.
 Media covering major events.