Arts of the United States / Spring 2026 Study Guide Final Exam

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the key artists, movements, and concepts from the Arts of the United States lecture notes.

Eadweard Muybridge

A photographer who changed the practice of photography by capturing sequential images of humans and animals in motion.

Jacob Riis

Author and photographer of 'How the Other Half Lives' who documented immigrants in the Lower East Side to support reform movements.

The Ashcan School

A group of artists, including Robert Henri, George Luks, and John Sloan, who moved from Philadelphia to NYC and embraced urban realism and city landscapes.

Art for Life's Sake

Robert Henri's philosophy that translated into portraits of diverse individuals reflecting the realities of the massive surge in immigration between 1890 and 1915.

The Eight

A group of artists organized by Robert Henri who held a famous independent exhibition at the MacBeth Galleries in NYC in 1908.

Both Members of this Club

A work by George Bellows that addresses early 20th-century urban society and race relations, referencing the fact that boxing was often only legal in private clubs.

The Masses

A socialist journal associated with Ashcan artists such as John Sloan and George Bellows.

Pictorialism

A movement in photography associated with Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen that emphasized heavy manipulation of images to create 'painterly' fine art photos.

Gallery 291

Also known as the 'Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession,' this Fifth Avenue space exhibited photography alongside modern art by American and European artists.

The Steerage (1907)

A photograph by Alfred Stieglitz that departed from pictorialism toward 'straight' photography, focusing on new stylistic and formal concerns regarding composition.

Armory Show of 1913

An exhibition in New York City that introduced American audiences to European modern art styles like Cubism, including works by Picasso, Matisse, and Duchamp.

Dada

An art movement characterized by a sense of absurdity and the challenging of established hierarchies and values, exemplified by Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain'.

Readymade

A term coined by Marcel Duchamp for existing objects that are selected and altered to remove their practical function, emphasizing the concept over craftsmanship.

Precisionism

A style associated with Charles Sheeler and Charles Demuth featuring figurative work with streamlined, modern lines, geometry, and a focus on industrial or agricultural sites.

Group f/64

A San Francisco-based group of photographers, including Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham, named for the smallest camera aperture and promoting 'straight' photography.

Prairie Style

A domestic architectural style pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright characterized by horizontal lines, open floor plans, and overhanging eaves meant to blend into the landscape.

Harlem Renaissance

A blossoming of African American culture from circa 1918 to 1937 that promoted the concept of the 'New Negro' and embraced roots in African history.

The New Deal

A series of programs enacted under President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1938 that funded artists through projects like the Federal Art Project (WPA).

WPA Murals

Public artworks funded by the Treasury and WPA that focused on local history, industry, and agriculture, commonly found in post offices and community centers.

Farm Securities Administration (FSA)

A program directed by Roy Stryker that employed photographers like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange to document rural workers and sharecroppers.

Social Realists

Artists like Philip Evergood who produced figurative art to draw attention to the real social conditions and conflicts of the working classes.

Regionalism

An art movement associated with Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and John Steuart Curry that focused on Midwestern landscapes and small-town life.

Organic Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright's philosophy, seen in 'Fallingwater,' where a building is intimately incorporated into its natural setting using native materials and open concepts.