Regionalism
Regionalism, part of American Scene Painting, portrayed American subjects with an entirely American approach (mid 1920s–mid 1940s). After the first exhibitions of European modern art in the United States and the stresses of World War I, some American artists rejected Cubism and abstraction to focus on depicting the American people and landscapes around them. National artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood became known for this approach and Colorado artists followed suit, showing the lives of common people and the places they lived and worked. Following the Stock Market Crash in 1929, the Federal Government created programs to employ artists to decorate public buildings with murals. These paintings are realistic and representational, though some artists shifted perspective or simplified blocks of color to stylize their images.
