Assignment: MODERNISM

In the early years of the 20th century, the group of artists known collectively as The Eight and, later, as the so-called Ashcan School-on account of their style, technique, and subject matter-were considered to be art-world radicals and/or revolutionaries, above all purporting to capture what was inherently "modern" about urban life and urban experience.

Who were the artists affiliated with this/these group(s)? Where did many of them receive their training? What characterized and what was so revolutionary about their style of painting? Where did they paint, and what were there favorite subjects? What was their relationship with the media? What was (or was not) "modern" about their paintings?

Along these lines, what about the modern, urban experience did they capture? Were these honest, documentary images or, rather, scenes of urban melodrama? How would you compare their work to that we have looked at thus far? And, finally, how is the art of The Eight as much about politics and social commentary as it is about painting (that is, style, technique, etc.)?