The American Artists School was a progressive independent

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

associated with

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and the American Radical movement. The school was founded in April 1936 at 131 West 14th Street, upon the dissolution of the John Reed Club School of Art. Its founders and board of directors included members and former members of the John Reed Club such as William Gropper, as well as contributors to the '' New Masses'' and the '' Daily Worker'', and notable artists such as

Margaret Bourke-White Margaret Bourke-White (; June 14, 1904 – August 27, 1971) was an American documentary photography, documentary photographer and photojournalist. She was known as an architectural and commercial photographer for the first half of her career, ...

and Louis Schanker. Harry Gottlieb was its first director and Henry Billings the first secretary. The school emphasized art that was not only technically excellent but also alive to the social and

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

realities of the day, and stressed socially relevant content. A statement from the school's brochure of 1936 reads, :''"The American Artists School established sits fundamental premise...that the student must be developed as an independent thinker at the same time he is trained to be a competent artist. We believe that America contains infinite painting material, and that the student who learns to understand and appreciate it cannot but evolve into a socially constructive artist."'' The school suffered from financial difficulties and closed in the spring of 1941; however, the significant role it played in integrating art and society in the thirties was recognized by both the liberal and radical press.

Personnel

Students at the school included

Jacob Lawrence Jacob Armstead Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an American painter known for his portrayal of African-American historical subjects and contemporary life. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", an art form populariz ...

Theodoros Stamos Theodoros Stamos (Greek: Θεόδωρος Στάμος) (December 31, 1922 – February 2, 1997) was a Greek-American painter. He is one of the youngest painters of the original group of abstract expressionist painters (the so-called " Irasc ...

, Lucille Wallenrod, Ad Reinhardt, Elaine de Kooning, Jack McLarty, Harry Shoulberg, Milton Resnick, and Fay Kleinman. Teachers included the sculptor Joseph Konzal, the cartoonist Fred Ellis, Philip Evergood, Milton Hebald, Sol Wilson, Louis Schanker,

Francis Criss Francis Hyman Criss (1901 - 1973) was an American painter. Criss's style is associated with the American Precisionists like Charles Demuth and his friend Charles Sheeler. The work from his best-known years, the 1930s and 1940s, is characteriz ...

, Walter Quirt, Moses Soyer, Louis Lozowick, and Abraham Harriton, and symposia featured lectures by Samuel Putnam, Charmion von Wiegand, and

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

. Russian-born Anton Refregier was a member of the faculty and at one point chairman of the board.

References

Sources

* Marquardt, Virginia Hagelstein. "The American Artists School: Radical Heritage and Social Content Art." ''Archives of American Art Journal'', Vol. 26, No. 4. (1986), pp. 17–23. * Artists on the Left, by Andrew Hemingway Art schools in New York City Defunct schools in New York City 1936 establishments in New York City Educational institutions established in 1936 Educational institutions disestablished in 1941 Culture of Manhattan {{Manhattan-school-stub 1941 disestablishments in New York City