Realism,+Edward+Hooper,+Grant+Wood,+Leon+Kroll

Home 1920's Topics __1920’s Project Assignment__ Realism-Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, Leon Kroll Shea Stiebler Travel Trip Maine Grant Wood: American Gothic Leon Kroll: Girl in a Hammock ||> Edward Hopper-Self Portrait
 * Realist Paintings: || Individuals: ||
 * Edward Hopper:



Grant Wood-Self Portrait

Leon Kroll:self Portrait ||

__Task One---DESCRIBE YOUR TOPIC -Due Tuesday, February 7__ Each topic includes an association or movement and an individual. Please write __two__ extended power paragraphs that address the following prompt: **Explain the achievements associated with your topic. Who and what were altered? Describe why both were significant in the 1920s. Explain the relationship between the individua****l and the association or movement.**
 * Support the ideas in each paragraph with evidence from a minimum of three  credible sources.
 * Select only signed  sources from the LC databases--each source must have a credible author.
 * Establish the credibility of the author the first time a source is referenced.
 * Credit sources with internal citations and in a Works Cited.
 * Insert the Works Cited after the Third Task.
 * Post the paragraphs to the wiki. Timely posting of completed tasks earn 10 points.

Realism is the style of art where the general attempt is to depict subjects as they are without embellishment. This particular style was one that became very popular around the 1920’s, especially through the works of Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, and Leon Kroll. According to Britannica online encyclopedia, realism was hard and cold, and had an honest, direct, earthy quality. These paintings captured scenes of American life that many people could relate to. “ Images of urban bustle and backwoods folk life were offered up to celebrate and define ‘the American Scene’ in words and in paint” (Grove Art Online). With this new style, America was introduced to a simple, but true view of American life.

The two decades after WWI left many artists on the hunt to find a style of art that could really capture their daily life experiences. M. Sue Kendall from Grove Art Online stated, “Traditional boundaries of acceptable subject-matter were broadened to include the everyday lives of average Americans—farmers, office workers, and window shoppers ”. The rise of realism also came with the rise of many great artists. Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, and Leon Kroll were three artists that were well known for their ability to portray American scenes in their realist paintings. Edward Hopper was distinguished for his subjects of solitary figures in urban settings and spare interiors (Pop Culture). Grant Wood was known for his talent of capturing life in the Midwest, as seen in his most famous piece, //American Gothic.// Leon Kroll veered away from dark, gritty city scenes to views with bright colors that presented handsome men and women that related to the classicism of the past (Pop Culture).

<span style="background-color: #9008b6; color: #7dff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18px; text-align: left;">__Task Two-EVALUATE YOUR TOPICS INFLUENCE-Due Friday, February 10__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">Please write two extended power paragraphs which each cite a minimum of three credible sources. Discuss the scope of influence of your topic on the 1920s. How extensive was the influence? Which part of society was influenced? Did the change endure or stimulate additional changes? What is the topic's legacy? What impact did the topic have in the Twenty-First century. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px;">POST PARAGRAPHS HERE

Years after WWI America was beginning to slip into a depression. America’s reputation of being strong, prosperous, and independent would soon change among the people into bitterness and fear (Britannica Online Encyclopedia). According to Neal McLaughlin, American artists began to pull away from European influence and started to portray a true American style that would help remind people of the strong and independent country they lived in. With realism there was a balanced portrait of America’s life-style. The masses of society were influenced by these paintings. Different locations meant different views among citizens. Those who lived in the Midwest were represented in a positive image that included hardworking farmers that made up many of America’s great people (Grove Art Online). This view can be seen in many of Grant Wood’s paintings. Other views came from social realists who represented those living in America’s large cities facing the hardships that came with it. Hopper chose to find a middle ground between these two views, he balanced out political aspects with artistic ones in his realist paintings. Either way there would always be a painting that represented America in a way that allowed people to relate to.

The change in this style of art allowed people to see how other areas in our nation were at the time. “ By the mid-1930s, the New York art world considered realism as having lesser intellectual worth than abstraction”(Pop Culture Universe). Although this art style didn’t please critics, it pleased the people in society. “ I don’t know much about art but I know what I like”(Annie Proulx). The masses liked this style because it created a new “American image” that reminded people that the US was still a strong country regardless of the situation. This style of art created a legacy, one that was enjoyed by the people of the time and one that still today can be used in order to illustrate or portray ones views of everyday subjects. Today we can use many of the great realist paintings as a window to the past, a way to fully understand the emotions of the time. For example we see how those of the Midwest lived through Grant Wood's art. We see the loneliness and solitude of those living in a large city captured by Edward Hopper, as seen in his painting //Nighthawks//(Web Museum). We are able to infer a story based off of the scenes that Leon Kroll painted through the emotions and body language of his subjects, one in particular, //Morning on the Cape//.

<span style="background-color: #9008b6; color: #7dff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">Task ThreeJUDGE THE IMPACT OF THE INDIVIDUAL & ASSOCIATION---Due Feb. 15 <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">Now that you have a basic understanding of your topic, and you know the scope of its influence, explain the forces that produced or created the topic. Additionally, what were the driving forces behind the society's reaction to your topic? Use the criteria described in the the Great Man Continuum to determine your topics long-run influence on society. Place your topic on the continuum and justify the reasons for your placement. Please confine your analysis to two extended power paragraphs with each citing a minimum of three credible sources. <span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">POST PARAGRAPHS HERE <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Realism was a distinct style in the 20th century. Social and political aspects of life were forces that pushed many artists to turn to this style in order to present life in a more honest way. The depression era movement created a form of Social realism. This had direct qualities of the injustices of American society around this time, (Britannica Online Encyclopedia). The article //Only the Lonely// stated that the people in society enjoyed these paintings despite the reviews from critics. People liked to see that they weren’t alone in these hard times and that they weren’t the only ones suffering. Realism became the all American style. “ Nationalistic critics, who had come to view Hopper’s work as typically American…” (Grove Art Online). This “typical American style” was one that fed off of its surroundings, depicting life as it was at the time.

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Based off of the criteria for the Great Man theory, Realism along with its artists would fall under Social determinism. This assumption states that individuals are more influenced by environmental conditions than the actions of individuals. This assumption can apply to realism as well because it is a style that represents what you see around you, it displays a scene or an observation. “In the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances” (Britannica Online Encyclopedia). It displays an environmental condition of how life was in the 1920s based on where you lived or where you were from. Grant Wood was one who painted life in the Midwest as he saw it. “He positions himself squarely as a Regionalist artist, capturing on canvas the seasons, the land, and the people of the American Midwest” (Pop Culture). This style revealed how individuals were influenced by their surroundings, and displayed how society was at the time.

<span style="background-color: #7dff00; color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 18px;">POST WORKS CITED HERE

Works Cited

Levin, Gail. “Hopper, Edward Biography.” //Grove Art Online//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/‌subscriber/‌article/‌grove/‌art/‌T038913?q=realism%20edward%20hopper&pos=2&_start=1#firsthit>.

Proulx, Annie. “Only the Lonely.” //the Guardian// : n. pag. Print.

//Realism//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <http://school.eb.com/‌eb/‌article-9062872?query=realism&ct=>.

Young, William H, and Nancy K Young. “Grant Wood.” //Pop Culture Universe//. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <http://popculture.abc-clio.com/‌Search/‌Display/‌1347530?terms=grant+wood>.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">Rubric for all three tasks: <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">Outstanding paragraphs include the following elements: <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">✓ Accurate power paragraph format with <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px;">each paragraph citing evidence from three different source s. <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">✓ Correct research components such as credibility statement, internal citations, Works Cited entries <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">✓ Thoughtful and thorough response to the each prompt <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">✓ A variety of sentences with interesting, clear diction <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">✓ Photos exemplifying the influence of the individual and association or movement <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;">✓ Place your topic on the Great Man Continuum; <span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 19px; text-align: left;"> ✓ Complete the criteria table to justify the reasons for your placement.