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Introduction               
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Artists by Movement:  Social Realism
America, 1930's

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Social Realism is a form of realism focusing specifically on social problems and the hardships of everyday life.  Artists of this period broke away from painting scenes of life as a beautiful, perfect place and started to create images that captured the heard realities of the times.  The social problems these artists tried to capture in their art included the depression in the United States, a time of mass unemployment in America, agricultural disasters such as the Dust Bowl in the mid west, and in Mexico the revolution of the working class.

These artists were trying to create social change with their art by showing the hardships of life as they really were.  They exaggerated features, colors, and size for emotional impact.  They used symbols to represent good and evil, money, oppression, tragedy and beauty.

Learn more about the artists of Social Realism movement, by completing the  webquest.

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