Monday Morning Museum: American Scene Painting – Social Realism

Social Realism – In America from 1931 to 1940

Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, and economic hardship through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working-class activities as heroic. The movement is a style of painting in which the scenes depicted typically convey a message of social or political protest edged with satire. – Wikipedia.org

In addition to Jacob Lawrence (see art example below), other well-known Social Realism painters are Ben Shahn and Jack Levine.

The Funeral, 1938 by Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000)

Last Monday’s Art – Regionalism
Next Monday’s Art – Art Deco

Top of post: "Social Realism" graphic created by Adrean Darce Brent
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Monday Morning Museum: American Scene Painting – Regionalism

Regionalism – In America from 1931 to 1940

Regionalism is an American realist modern art movement that was popular during the 1930s. The artistic focus was from artists who shunned city life, and rapidly developing technological advances, to create scenes of rural life. Regionalist style was at its height from 1930 to 1935. – Wikipedia.org

In addition to Thomas Hart Benton (see art example below), other practitioners of Regionalism are John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood.

Romance, circa 1931-1932 by Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975)

A painter and muralist celebrated for his regional scenes of daily life in the southern, midwestern, and western United States, Thomas Hart Benton was committed to portraying images of progress and satisfaction in the American heartland. Born to a family of statesmen, Benton was a patriot who saw his art as a means to generate social and political reform. His nostalgic and uplifting scenes of hard work, self-reliance, and individualism garnered broad popular appeal in post–World War I America. This work, painted when the artist was at the midpoint of his life, provides a lyrical view of a young couple on a relaxed evening stroll. Drawing on his knowledge of both Old Master techniques and modernist ideas, which he had gleaned from several years spent studying in Paris, Benton crafted a lively composition whose rhythmic alignment of forms conveys a sense of poignant familiarity. – The Blanton Museum of Art

Last Monday’s Art – Academic Art
Next Monday’s Art – Social Realism

Top of post: "Regionalism" graphic created by Adrean Darce Brent
Below: “Monday Morning Museum” logo created by Adrean Darce Brent