Ashcan School
- proper noun
- /ˈæʃˌkæn skuːl/
- US
:
escuela Ashcan
- The works of the Ashcan School provide a vivid look at the struggles and vibrancy of urban communities.
Examples
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Many painters and illustrators in New York in the 1920s had been molded to a great extent by the Ashcan School of Robert Henri and John Sloan and absorbed their ideas of social reform.
Academic text (2002) -
In addition, the Masses marked the first appearance of "realism" in an American magazine and was acknowledged as the best-illustrated periodical in the country, highlighting the work of the Ashcan School.
Academic text (2002) -
The Ashcan School is celebrated for its honest portrayals of everyday urban life in early 20th century America.
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Artists from the Ashcan School sought to depict the realities of city life, moving away from idealized art.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Ashcan + school
This is a historically specific proper name: while 'school' can signal a group of artists, the element 'Ashcan' is an opaque, low-frequency label (literally a trash can) whose link to the movement's focus on gritty urban realism is not predictable from the constituents. A B1 learner who knows the words would not be able to derive the specialized historical/artistic meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Ashcan School: The name comes from ashcan, an old word for a 'trash can', and school meaning a group of artists. One popular story says critics called them 'ashcan' as a joke because the painters showed the dirty, everyday life of the city, so the name came to mean a group of painters known for real, rough city scenes.
