Who would embrace the lifestyle of the Great Depression? An art movement known as social realism swept through Depression-era America and captured the harsh realities of what life was like. Artists embraced multiple mediums such as painting, photography, writing, film, and others to portray reality. Social realism art did not romanticize or embellish details in any form. The art movement occurred worldwide but became popular in America throughout the thirties. Keep reading to see what social realism was really about!
Social Realism Definition
Social realism is an art theory where artists depict everyday life's hardships and reality. Social realism began in the 20th century when painters started painting the messy realities of urban life in cities. Social realist painters shied away from romanticizing art and believed in capturing life as it was happening. The movement was critical of the "social reality" in America because it linked Americans through their life experiences.
Social Realism Characteristics
Social Realism was a big movement that comprised many mediums of artistic expression. Here are three main characteristics present in the works of most creators that participated in this movement.
Characteristics of Social Realism: |
|
Adhere to Reality | Artwork often depicted what was happening in the real world and how it was impacting people. |
Avoid Romantic Embellishments | Artists did not add any extra elements; they intended to portray precisely what they saw. |
Expose Human Flaws | Artists showed that people had flaws and no one was perfect. |
Social Realism Art
Art was an ideal conduct to express the angst Social Realists felt entering the 20th century. The creative boom left a beautiful impact and influence on future generations.
Fig. 1: The Subway by Jose Clemente Orozco.
The Subway
Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco painted realistic art depicting tragedy and life's harsh realities. Orozco often visited New York and Europe to paint frescos. On one of his trips to New York, he painted The Subway, which captures the trials with the transportation system in the city. The passengers are in the shadows, keep to themselves, and look melancholic or numb. Orozco created the painting in 1928 on the eve of the Great Depression.
Melancholic: feeling or expressing deep sadness or depression.
Social Realism Poetry
"Too hard to
watch their lungs clog with dust,
Like our chickens suffocated.
Better to let the government take them
Than suffer the sight of their bony hides
Sinking down
into the earth."
-Karen Hesse, Out of the Dust, 1997
The above verse is from Karen Hesse's novel, in which she describes a farmer in 1930s Oklahoma who can no longer afford to feed his cows. The result is that the state must kill the livestock. Emphasis is placed on paintings and photographs that depict social realism, but literature was also a critical piece of the movement that spanned decades. For example, Hesse's novel was published in 1997 but continued to evoke deep sympathy for the farmer.
Fig. 2: Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange Source
Migrant Mother
Photographer Dorothea Lange used photography to convey the real-life struggles of the Great Depression. In the Migrant Mother, Lange shows Florence Thompson, age 32, with three children. Thompson's family, like others, was decimated by the Dust Bowl. Lange and other photographers were hired through the New Deal to document the effects of the Great Depression.
Some argue that Lange's work can be seen as propaganda for the federal government's support programs. Yet, the Migrant Mother has become a renowned icon of resilience.
Social Realism Artists
Many artists of the 1930s were employed through Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs to help stimulate the economy. Artists of the social realism movement used paintings, sculpture, writing, photography, drawing, and other mediums to convey their art.
Fig. 3: Unemployment by Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn 1898-1969
Born in Lithuania, Ben Shahn came to the US as a young boy and became an apprentice under a lithographer at a young age. He furthered his education in the 1920s by studying at the National Academy of Design and New York University. Shahn deeply admired the American working class, which is seen in his paintings of construction workers and miners. During WWII, the federal government employed Shahn in the Graphic Arts Division of the Office of War, where he only published two posters.
Isabel Bishop 1902-1988
Isabel Bishop was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a well-known painter and printmaker. Her studies took her from the School of Applied Design for Women to the Art Students League, where she studied painting. In the early thirties, Bishop opened a studio where she captured the everyday working urban American. Her artwork often depicts the daily life of New Yorkers.
Fig. 4: Cable Worker by Lewis Hine
Lewis Hine 1874-1940
Lewis Hine was born in Wisconsin in 1874 and began working early in a factory for thirteen hours a day and earned only four dollars a week. After a variety of jobs, Hine became a teacher and school photographer. He quickly fell in love with photography and published articles within two years of picking up the art. One of his most exciting projects was becoming a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), a group determined to enact child labor laws. Throughout the Great Depression, Hine turned his camera to fixate on women's working conditions. He even captured the role of housewife, believing they too deserved recognition.
Did you know?
One of Hine's most important projects was photographing the construction of the Empire State Building! He often had to use cherry pickers to gain an aerial perspective!
Social Realism in Films
Along with other art mediums, films also practiced social realism throughout the Great Depression. The movies played a critical role in supporting Americans throughout the 1930s. Even with unemployment at an all-time high, roughly sixty million Americans went to the movies. Some argued that Hollywood fueled escapism by distracting Americans from their unfortunate realities. However, most films were directly influenced by the social realities of the day.
No medium has contributed more greatly than the film to the maintenance of the national morale during a period featured by revolution, riot, and political turmoil in other countries."
–Will Hays, 1934, Head of Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association
Our Daily Bread
In 1934 film director King Vidor produced Our Daily Bread which depicted some of the realities of Depression-era America. The plot shows a couple during the Great Depression that attempt to make a living from farming. The couple does not know how to farm but soon meets other downtrodden Americans who help them work the farm. The film encompasses the harsh realities of the Great Depression but also shows the kindness shared by Americans during the era.
Social Realism in Literature
Literature, after French naturalism, found a powerful perspective in Social realism, giving voice to excluded parts of society.
Fig. 5: The first edition dust jacket for Grapes of Wrath 1939
The Grapes of Wrath
Social realism in literature is very similar to social realism in art. Many books, magazines, and novels encompassed the struggle of the poor or working class and the reality they faced daily. An example is John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, where a depression-era family leaves their home after the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to seek a better life in California. The plot follows the Joad family, who attempt to seek work in California but soon realize their trials are not over. Steinbeck evokes deep sympathy for the family and highlights the real-life struggles of many depression-era families.
Hard Times
Published in England in 1854, Charles Dickens successfully captured the harsh realities of an industrialized nation and how it negatively impacted communities. One of the main characters, Tom Gradgrind, has raised his children in an extreme manner which has left them lacking empathy and joy. After a series of complex crises and events, Tom realizes the error of his ways and how badly he has ruined his children's lives. For Dickens, Gradgrind encompasses the unforgiving philosophy in the Victorian England era.
Even if not a contemporary of the Social Realism movement, Dickens is considered a seminal figure in the realist landscape who influenced many other writers after him.
American Gothic Social Realism
One of the most famous and important social realism paintings is American Gothic by Grant Wood. In social realism, many artists depicted real subjects like in Dorothea Lange's photography. However, In American Gothic, artist Grant Wood created fictional subjects. In the painting, Wood uses his sister and his dentist as models.
Fig. 6 American Gothic 1930 by Grant Wood
Wood wanted the image to convey a positive view of Americans from the midwest and offer resilience during the Great Depression. The painting was first exhibited in 1930 and instantly became a sensation, with many speculating what the painting's story was.
Did you know?
The house that Grant Wood used in American Gothic still stands today!
Social Realism - Key takeaways
- Social realism was an art movement that occurred worldwide, becoming popular in the U.S. throughout the Great Depression
- Characteristics of the art movement included:
- Adhere to reality
- Avoid Romantic Embellishments
- Expose Human Flaws
- Social Realism embraced all mediums of art, including:
- Photography:
- Dorothea Lange's images, like her photograph "Migrant Mother"
- Lewis Hine's works
- Painting:
- Grant Wood and the American Gothic
- Film:
- King Vidor's Our Daily Bread
- American Gothic is still considered social realism even though the painting is not depicting an actual event. The work became sensationalized at its' unveiling and is considered one of the most important works of the social realism movement.
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