social realism

In painting, art that realistically depicts the life, struggles, and urban environment of the lower classes in the 20th century, and focuses on subjects of social and political concern, such as poverty and deprivation. Those described as Social Realists include: in the USA, members of the Ashcan School, Ben Shahn, Jacob Lawrence, and Romare Bearden; in the UK, the kitchen-sink painters, for example John Bratby; and in Mexico, the Muralists José Orozco and Diego Rivera.

In the USA, Social Realists differ from the Regionalists in their choice of subject matter, interpretation of environment, and motivation for creation of work.

The term dates from about 1945, though the French artist Gustave Courbet provides a 19th-century example of the genre with his painting Stonebreakers (1850; Dresden, destroyed 1945).

Those painters described as Social Realists may practise in a variety of styles, not necessarily realistic in the sense of creating an exact likeness (see realism), but share an attitude or a wish to confront social injustice. Technically, the style declined in the 1960s, however, many artists continue to be motivated and inspired by social issues and injustices.