Social Realism

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.