American Realism

American Realism was a style in art, music and literature that depicted contemporary social realities and the lives and everyday activities of ordinary people. The movement began in literature in the mid-19th century, and became an important tendency in visual art in the early 20th century. Whether a cultural portrayal or a scenic view of downtown New York City, American realist works attempted to define what was real.
In the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century a new generation of painters, writers and journalists were coming of age. Many of the painters felt the influence of older U.S. artists such as Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, Winslow Homer, Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, Thomas Pollock Anshutz, and William Merritt Chase. However they were interested in creating new and more urbane works that reflected city life and a population that was more urban than rural in the U.S. as it entered the new century.

Contents

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  1 America in the early 20th century
  
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  2 Ashcan School and The Eight
  
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    2.1 George Bellows
    
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    2.2 Robert Henri
    
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    2.3 Everett Shinn
    
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    2.4 George Benjamin Luks
    
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    2.5 William Glackens
    
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    2.6 John Sloan
    
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    2.7 Edward Hopper
    
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    2.8 Other visual artists
    
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  3 Writers
  
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    3.1 Horatio Alger, Jr.
    
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    3.2 Stephen Crane
    
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    3.3 William Dean Howells
    
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    3.4 Mark Twain
    
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    3.5 Sam. R. Watkins
    
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    3.6 Others
    
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  4 Journalism
  
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    4.1 Jacob Riis
    
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    4.2 Art Young
    
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  5 Music
  
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    5.1 James Allen Bland
    
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    5.2 C.A. White
    
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    5.3 W.C. Handy
    
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    5.4 Scott Joplin
    
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    5.5 Other musicians
    
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  6 See also
  
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  7 References
  
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  8 Sources
  
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  9 External links