ArtPage on the Ashcan School

Ashcan School - A group of early twentieth-century American artists who often painted pictures of New York city life. Although they are sometimes called the New York realists, because a critic who did not appreciate their choice of subject matter — alleys, tenements, and slum dwellers — gave the artists involved in this art movement a more colorful name that's more popularly used: the "Ashcan School." Confusingly, another label that is used for them is that of another more clearly defined group — "The Eight." The Ashcan School included these six members of The Eight: Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Robert Henri (1865-1929), George Luks (1867-1933), William Glackens (1870-1938), John Sloan (1871-1951), and Everett Shinn (1876-1953). Others who are considered in the Ashcan school: Alfred Maurer (1868-1932), George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925), Edward Hopper (1882-1967), and Guy Pène Du Bois (1884-1958).

Examples of their work:

Robert Henri (born Robert Henry Cozad) (American, 1865-1929), The Laundress, c. 1910, oil on canvas, Phoenix Art Museum, AZ.

George Benjamin Luks (American, 1866-1933), In the Steerage, 1900, oil on canvas, 30 5/8 x 19 1/4 inches (77.8 x 48.9 cm), North Carolina Art Museum, Raleigh.

Alfred Henry Maurer (American, 1868-1932)

William Glackens (American, 1870-1938), Family Group, 1910 or 1911, oil on canvas, 72 x 84 inches, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. This was exhibited in the influential Armory Show of 1913.

John Sloan (American, 1871-1951), Night Windows, 1910, etching, 5 1/4 x 7 inches. This was exhibited in the influential Armory Show of 1913.

John Sloan, Sunday, Women Drying Their Hair, 1912, oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches, Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA. This too was exhibited in the influential Armory Show of 1913.

John Sloan, 1912, "Tee Hee" Boys: Born with a Vote and a Partial Sense of the Ridiculous, 1912, ink and crayon, published in Collier's, May 18, 1912, as "Aw, Susie, be them dishes washed?" Library of Congress, Washington, DC. This crowd watches and jeers as a parade of suffragettes parade past. Suffragettes were women who campaigned for the right to vote.

John Sloan, Nude, Pink Striped Coverlet, 1927, 13 1/2 X 15 inches, oil on canvas, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.

Everett Shinn (American, 1876-1953), Dancer in White Before the Footlights, 1910, oil on canvas, 35 x 39 inches, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH.

George Wesley Bellows (American, 1882-1925), Steaming Streets, 1908, oil on canvas, 38 3/8 x 30 1/4 inches (97.5 x 76.8 cm), Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA. See painterly.

George Wesley Bellows (American, 1882-1925), Stag at Sharkey's, 1909, oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 48 1/4 inches (92 x 122.6 cm), Cleveland Museum of Art. See diagonal.

George Wesley Bellows, Cliff Dwellers, 1913, oil on canvas, 40 1/8 x 42 inches (101.9 x 106.7 cm), Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

George Wesley Bellows, Mrs. T in Cream Silk, No.2, 1920, oil on canvas, 53 x 43 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

George Wesley Bellows, The White Horse, 1922, oil on canvas, Worcester Art Museum, MA.

Edward Hopper (American, 1882-1967), Early Sunday Morning, 1930, oil on canvas, 35 3/16 x 60 1/4 inches (89.4 x 153 cm), Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. See American Scene painting and rectangle.

Creative Quotations from Robert Henri, one of the leading members of this movement. Books by him are still in print.

Also see American Scene painting.