Art of the
Gilded Age and the Ashcan School arose in the United States in the same time period, roughly
during the 1880s to the 1920s. The subject matter of the two movements was diametrically
opposed, but the two movements were at the same time yoked because they both emerged from the
extreme income inequality of the period.
Gilded Age art included lush,
beautiful, and mannered portraits of the very wealthy, painted to hang in great homes. The most
famous Gilded Age portrait artists were John Singer Sargent and James Whistler.
The wealthy lives the Gilded Age artists depicted came at the expense of other segments
of society.The Ashcan School recorded the seedier existence of those exploited by the unequal
economic system and focused on realistic scenes of immigrants and urban poverty. These artists
rebelled against genteel traditions in favor of recording a gritty life they felt the fine arts
often ignored.
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