Ashcan School

ASHCAN SCHOOL

The Ashcan School was a movement which was integral and in a way 1 inevitable with the infancy of the twentieth century. This movement in art was brought about by a handful of artists who converged on New York City around the turn of the century.2 The major Ashcan artists who will be discussed later are Robert Henry ( 1865- 1929), George Luks (1866- 1933), Everett Shinn (1876- 1953), George Bellows (1882- 1925), John Sloan (1871- 1951), and William Glackens ( 1870- 1938).3 These were the major members of the Ashcan School. This is a group of artists who are credited with documenting the ordinary life on a human level in New York City during this incredible time of transformation. Because of these artists we have a picture of New York not based on the monuments or buildings but based on the interaction and the coexistence of the people who shaped the society which was emerging.

The island of Manhattan was consolidated into the greater New York City in 1898. Because of this the city was transformed from a nineteenth century seaport with cobblestone streets into a twentieth century metropolis of skyscrapers and subways. The artists of the Ashcan movement saw this changing society in human terms. They saw this in a light which depicted the interaction of so many different cultures which were being thrust together. They documented these changes on a level which the ordinary person could understand. Because of the Ashcan School we have a picture of society which one really cannot understand amidst the overpowering spectacle of overpowering buildings and increasing technology.4

To understand the Ashcan movement it is necessary to look more closely at some of the major artists who were involved. George Bellows moved to New York in 1904 after he dropped out of Ohio State University following his junior year. Once in New York he enrolled in classes at The New York School of Art. He quickly became Robert Henri's star pupil and valued friend. Bellows was fascinated by New York City. He attempted to capture in his art the social change which he noticed in the city. By the time he was twenty four his art had the attention of the cities leading critics, and his work was shown regularly at exhibitions at the national academy of design. Bellows became the youngest artist ever to elected an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1909.