The Ashcan School in the United States

The Ashcan School was a group of realist painters from the United States that was formed
during the first years of the 20 th Century. The term was first used to refer to this group in
the book Art in America in Modern Times in 19341. The members did not have a political
position in particular (some of them where apolitical) or an ideal; what is characteristic of
this group is what they portrayed in their work: real life or urban reality, which they
achieved by painting the less glamorous parts of the city.
Robert Henri, who is considered to be the father of the movement, promoted the idea of
making art akin to journalism, to portray reality, what life was like in the big cities. They
believed that what was truly beautiful is what is real, and therefore what should constitute
art.2 Their work consists mostly of New York landscapes, the city where all the members of
the first generation of the group moved to. Many of those paintings show problems that are
iconic of their time like immigration and poverty.
The first generation of this group consisted of Henri and his pupils in Philadelpia, William
Glackens, George Luks, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan; the second generation is considered
to have been formed by Henris students in New York. Although some of the members of
the group were also part of the group called The Eight, the two groups are different; The
Eight was formed some years after the Aschan School, and they only gathered for one
exhibition held on William Macbeth's galleries in New York, in February 1908; however,
this exhibition was of great impact for American art and the Aschan group gained some
fame after it was held.
According to Barbara Weinberg H., the group openly challenged the American
Impressionists, who were heavily influenced by French Impressionism and Realism.
However, critics nowadays tend to see their art less concerned with the social aspect that
the group itself claimed it to be, since they never really had the purpose to participate in
social reform or in a movement. Besides, years later Social Realism appeared, which was
1 Anonymous. Ashcan School. History of Art.
2Anonymous. Ashcan School. Art Movements.

clearly a movement that commented on social issues; some critics see this movement as an
evolution to the Aschan School project.3
The movement may not have an obvious relation to women painting. However, there is a
subtile link between them: Robert Henri, during the last decade of the 19 th Century, worked
as a teacher in the School of Design for Women in Philadelphia, where he was very
influential. His views influenced several women painters.

Bibliography:

Anonymous. Ashcan School. History of Art. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/historyof- art/ashcan-school.htm

Anonymous, Social Realism. History of Art. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/historyof-art/social-realism.htm
Anonymous. Ashcan School. Art Movements.
http://www.artmovements.co.uk/ashcanschool.htm
Weinberg, H. Barbara. "The Ashcan School". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ashc/hd_ashc.htm

3Anonymous, Social Realism. History of Art.