Social Realism Art Prints

The Social Realism Art Movement was an international movement with slight parallels to the Expressionist Movement that occurred at roughly the same time. The latter was focused on presenting art subjectively, as a means of expressing emotional meaning or feelings rather than as mere objective physical reality. Social Realism in the United States is often represented by the iconic 1930 "American Gothic” by Grant Wood. The intention of the movement was to draw attention to the plight of members of the poor working class, extending criticism to the social structures allowing for the wide discrepancy between the social classes.

The Ashcan School of artists was loosely organized around 1900 by a group of American scene painting artists concentrating on conditions then existing in the slums of New York City, often in rebellion against American Impressionism which was, at the time, the most respected art style in the US. In this section we feature artists of the American Scene painting movement, selected Ashcan School lithographs and etchings and a variety of American Realism prints that can be loosely associated with the Social Realism art movement.