Regionalism in Art: Characteristics & Style

Characteristics of Regionalism

Regionalism was a unique movement that grew out of the fear and uncertainty of the Great Depression. It was a rejection of many things that Americans blamed for the Depression, including the rapid urbanization and industrialization of the last several decades. Thus, Regionalism abandoned the cityscape and instead looked to rural America (which was still most of the country at this point), particularly the Midwest.

The resulting images were nostalgic and reassuring, celebrating American endurance and perseverance even in the bleakest of compositions. Regionalist art embraced the idea that the USA could provide for itself, representing a literal looking inwards of art rather than looking to the world. As a result, it was strongly nationalist, patriotic, and isolationist.

A lot of these ideas were carried in the physical elements of Regionalist compositions. At the time, Modernism was sweeping Europe and abstraction was seen as the hallmark of the future. The United States had tried to participate in this, notably hosting their own modern art exhibition called the Armory Show in 1913. However, the Regionalist artists strongly rejected 20th-century abstraction (even if the influence of late 19th-century French painters like Matisse and Gauguin is evident in their work).

Baptism in Kansas, a painting by Regionalist John Steuart Curry

Regionalist styles tended to be straightforward and direct, reflecting the spirit of the Midwest. In rejecting abstraction, they further demonstrated an isolationist and nationalist withdrawal from Europe and asserted that American arts didn't need to be like European ones in order to be valid. American arts, designed for American tastes, were good enough on their own, and whether Europe approved or not was irrelevant. So there.

Notable Artists

Aside from this coming-of-age self-assurance, Regionalism didn't actually have a definitive manifesto. There was no body of artists who set the agenda or tone, which is partly why the movement died out after World War II. This also meant, however, that it was open to regional tastes and aesthetics. So, the best way to understand Regionalist art is just to look at some examples.

Let's start with John Steuart Curry, a Kansas artist who ranks among the big three of Regionalism. Curry's paintings embrace agrarianism and rural life, although often with an eye towards the violence and danger of it. One of his most famous works, however, is 1928's Baptism in Kansas. Embracing themes of community, religion, and unconcealed faith in rural America, it shows a baptism in a water tank after the creeks had dried up in the Dust Bowl. Despite this foreboding drought, the scene is peaceful and resolved in its perseverance through adversity.

The second of the Regionalist big three was Thomas Hart Benton, who abandoned New York in the 1930s and moved back to Missouri to embrace Regionalism along with others who felt disillusioned by the failures of urban and industrial America. Look up Benton's Threshing Wheat from 1939 and you'll see a good example of his take on Regionalism. Stylistically it shows the influence of contemporaries like Diego Rivera, but thematically is firmly rooted in the American agrarian tradition.

American Gothic by Grant Wood

Finally, let's look at the most famous of the American Regionalists, Grant Wood. Based in Iowa, Wood was the closest thing the Regionalists had to a leader, who wrote in 1935 a pamphlet declaring that American artists were rejecting Europe as the standard for art and culture. His most famous painting is 1930's American Gothic. That title actually refers to the farmhouse in the background and the Gothic style window on the upper floor, an unexpected bit of ornamentation on an otherwise modest house. It was a straightforward and steadfast presentation of a rural America without pomp and circumstance. And that's what Regionalism was all about.

Lesson Summary

Regionalism was an American artistic movement that flourished during the Great Depression in the 1930s and early 1940s. It was nationalist and isolationist, rejecting not only European abstraction but urban and industrial influences as well. Regionalism was less of a codified movement than a trend in the arts, maintained by painters like John Steuart Curry, Thomas Hart Benton, and Grant Wood. While some criticized it for abandoning modernist ideologies, others celebrated it for its ability to break from European-controlled aesthetics. It was an American art for American people, who were starting to question whether or not the big kids were really worth trying to impress.