Realism
Realism art, unlike impressionism or post impressionism, focused on accurately representing events and objects of the working class's daily life. There was a subcategory called Social Realism which focused on the Depression and the unglamorous aspects of city life. Two artists of that time were William Glackens and William Mount. William Glackens (1870-1938) started out as an illustrator for many newspapers. Later, while continuing his work with the newspapers, he began to work with oil paints. He joined a group of modern painters called The Eight, and they had one exhibition together. Then, however, they split up because they had different views. He was a supporter of the newer Realist and Impressionist styles. He was well-known as an American realism artist. His painting "Outside the Guttenberg Race Track" is the top painting to the right. People saw the images there as ugly, and at that time, that was not appreciated in paintings. The idea is that this is a real scene from New Jersey, and real happenings. William Mount (1807-1868) was not the first American Realist artist, but he was an early influence. He was a fiddle player, and liked to depict people in the spontaneous moments of playing fiddle, singing, dancing, etc. He also depicted African Americans in the same situations without the racism of previous artists. He used his art to show how he thought black people should be treated. His painting "Right and Left," the second one on the right, shows a fiddle player. He said he asked people to play while he was sketching them, not pose. He wanted to capture the spontaneous aspect of life. |