1. Jacob Lawrence, Ben Shahn, Edward Hopper and Grant Wood
American Regionalism
Jacob Lawrence, Ben Shahn, Edward Hopper and Grant Wood

2. Jacob Lawrence
African American artist that depicted modern history, concentrating on the culture and history of his own people.
Timeline
Migration series-based on the migration of the “negro” from the rural South to the urban North.

4. THE MIGRATION SERIES During the World War there was a great migration North by Southern Negroes.

5. In every town Negroes were leaving by the hundreds to go North and enter into Northern industry.

6. Among the social conditions that existed which was partly the cause of the migration was the injustice done to the Negroes in the court.

7. They also found discrimination in the North although it was much different from that which they had known in the South.

8. Race riots were very numerous all over the North because of the antagonism that was caused between the Negro and white workers. Many of these riots occurred because the Negro was used as a strike breaker in many of the Northern industries.

9. They also worked in large numbers on the railroad.

10. In the North the Negro had better educational facilities.

11. The Negroes who had been North for quite some time met their fellowmen with disgust and aloofness.

12. The female worker was also one of the last groups to leave the South.

13. TOMBSTONES
The strength of family and community bonds was tested by the many threats to healthy living that the migrants encountered in the urban North. Limited access to health care and hospital facilities was a major problem for blacks in northern cities. Smallpox, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and other diseases spread quickly. The death rate for blacks was consistently higher than that for whites.

14. BROWNSTONES

15. Ben Shahn
Combined Synthetic cubism with his commercial art training to create his own style.
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti- tells the story of wrongly convicted Italian Americans. Many people believed they were framed because of their political beliefs. Series of paintings contains parallels to the life of Christ.
Shahn’s artwork often reflected his left wing political beliefs.

16. BEN SHAHN The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti 1931-1932 Tempera on canvas

20. Edward Hopper Images evoke the mind set of the Depression era.
19th century Realist style with contemporary imagery.
Generalized theme of loneliness and isolation.

21. Figure 35-63 EDWARD HOPPER, Nighthawks, 1942
Figure EDWARD HOPPER, Nighthawks, Oil on canvas, 2’ 6” x 4’ 8 11/16”. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (Friends of American Art Collection).

26. GRANT WOOD
Born and lived in Iowa, artwork represented the Midwest and all things Americana.
Best known work made during the Depression.
Influenced by Northern Renaissance artists specifically Jan Van Eyck.

27. Represented an ideal of America. Parody? Sincere? Both?
Figure GRANT WOOD, American Gothic, Oil on beaverboard, 2’ 5 7/8” x 2’ 7/8”. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (Friends of American Art Collection). Art © Estate of Grant Wood/Licensed by VAGA, New York.
Represented an ideal of America.
Parody? Sincere? Both?
“your true regionalist is not a mere eulogist; he may even be a severe critic” Grant Wood

28. Parson Weem’s Fable Grant Wood 1 939 oil on canvas
Washington’s head is based on Stuart’s version.
Curtain shows story was an invention.
Painted during a time when Washington’s myth’s were being debunked.

29. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Grant Wood, 1931

30. Figure THOMAS HART BENTON, Pioneer Days and Early Settlers, State Capitol, Jefferson City, Missouri, Mural. Art © T. H. Benton and R. P. Benton Testamentary Trusts/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.
Thomas Hart Benton, another Regionalist depicted images both positive and negative of his home state of Missouri. This mural hanging in the Missouri state capitol shows a collection of images from the state’s legendary history like primitive agriculture, horse trading, a lynching, mining and family life.

31. Thomas Hart Benton, another Regionalist depicted images both positive and negative of his home state of Missouri. This mural hanging in the Missouri state capitol shows a collection of images from the state’s legendary history like primitive agriculture, horse trading, a lynching, mining and family life.