At the turn of the nineteenth century, the city of New York underwent a tremendous change that is regarded as a complete “transformation of American culture” (Zurier). An abundance of scholarly works have been devoted to those developments that were of a geographic, economic or social nature. An equally great focus has been on the rise of a new kind of consumer culture which, according to Tottis, rang in an “age of Amusement” which included the advent of the department store, popular entertainment and advertisement (Zurier). Recent scholars, among them Rebecca Zurier, have concentrated on the role of public display within this consumer culture. People were not only there “to buy, but merely to ‘see’ the things” they desired to purchase (Bowlby, “Looking”). The display and constant “visuality” of the outer look of the city on the one hand and the mutual gazing of city people on the other hand caused the need for a “new skill of urban viewing” people had yet to learn (Manthorne). Thus, new ways of seeing developed.
Within this context of a heavily pictorial and visual consumer culture, scholars have examined the works of the Ashcan School, a group of artists known for their ‘common’ city depictions. Up to the present, few scholars did not concentrate on the Ashcan artists’ portrayal of poor living conditions, toil and tenements. Instead, they began to analyze the consumerist scenes of the Ashcan School’s oeuvre: they contemplated the issues of public display, its effects on New York’s citizen and they also scraped the surface of the gender issue within consumerism.
This bachelor thesis is intended to extent this study in order to provide a coherent picture of how consumerism, gender and new ways of seeing play together in a number of Ashcan works. The portrayals of Everett Shinn and John Sloan have been chosen for their depicted content of entertainment, shopping and urban viewing.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Turn-of-the-Century New York: Setting the course for an “Age of Amusement”
3. New Ways of Seeing and the Gendering of Consumption
3.1. The Department Store
3.2. Popular Entertainment
3.3. Visual Activity
4. The Representation of New York Consumerism in Works of the Ashcan School
4.1. Representations of Consumerist Display
4.1.1. Everett Shinn’s Window Shopping (1903)
4.1.2. John Sloan’s Hairdresser’s Window (1907)
4.1.3. John Sloan, The Show Case (1905)
4.2. Popular Entertainment
4.2.1. Everett Shinn’s Theater Box (1906)
4.2.2. John Sloan, Fun, One Cent (1905)
4.2.3. John Sloan, Movies, Five Cents (1907)
4.3. The Culture of Looking
4.3.1. John Sloan, Sunday Afternoon in Union Square (1912)
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Thematic Scope
This thesis examines the intersection of consumer culture, gender, and visual perception in turn-of-the-century New York, specifically through the lens of the Ashcan School artists. The primary research objective is to analyze how socio-economic transformations fostered a new culture of public spectacle and how this "new way of seeing" was reflected and critiqued in the works of Everett Shinn and John Sloan.
- The influence of urban growth and production changes on New York's consumer culture.
- The gendering of consumption and the role of women as targets of commercial display.
- The function of department stores, theaters, and popular entertainment as sites of public spectacle.
- The analysis of Ashcan School artworks as representations of urban visuality and spectatorship.
- The evolving concept of self-identity through public performance and mass consumption.
Excerpt from the Book
4.1.1. Everett Shinn’s Window Shopping (1903)
In Shinn’s pastel drawing named Window Shopping (Fig 1), the effect carefully planned shop windows had on women shoppers is displayed. As the viewer of the drawing, one is positioned on a rainy sidewalk looking at the back of a single woman who in turn, looks at the display of a storefront window. The act of looking, then, is made one of the main themes of the drawing. The composition of the drawing is as follows: the woman is located in the center of the drawing, the upper half depicts two mannequins behind the glass window while the lower half shows them being mirrored in the wetness of the sidewalk. The shopper is clearly set apart from the shop window as she is positioned on the lower street level than the mannequins elevated in the shop window. The female shopper seems to belong to the affluent class since her way to dress including a fashionable hat and a corsage dress which indicates a certain income to spend. The colors of the street and outside walls of the department store are grey and black and the woman’s dress is equally dark. She almost seems to merge with the grayness of her surroundings. The window, however, is brightly lit. The mannequin on the right is wearing a white dress; the bottom of the window is colored in light blue and a yellow spotlight behind the left mannequin draws the viewer’s attention to it and causes him or her to focus on the upper part of the drawing.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the foundational shifts in New York's culture at the turn of the century and defines the thesis’s focus on the Ashcan School’s portrayal of consumerism and urban spectatorship.
2. Turn-of-the-Century New York: Setting the course for an “Age of Amusement”: Analyzes the demographic, economic, and social transformations that turned New York into a modern "consumer center" and fostered a culture of spectacle.
3. New Ways of Seeing and the Gendering of Consumption: Explores how retail spaces, theaters, and advertising industries created new methods of visual engagement and targeted women as primary consumers.
4. The Representation of New York Consumerism in Works of the Ashcan School: Offers a deep analysis of specific artworks by Everett Shinn and John Sloan to illustrate the tension between public performance, personal identity, and the "male gaze" in a modernizing city.
5. Conclusion: Synthesizes findings, confirming that while these artists documented common life, their work also reflects a complex, ironic engagement with the superficiality and allure of the emerging mass-consumer order.
Keywords
Ashcan School, New York City, consumerism, gender, urban visuality, spectatorship, department store, public display, John Sloan, Everett Shinn, mass culture, modernism, visual arts, urban identity, voyeurism.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The work investigates how turn-of-the-century New York underwent a cultural transformation into an "Age of Amusement," characterized by consumerism and new urban viewing habits, and how this was captured by the Ashcan School of artists.
What are the central themes discussed in the paper?
Key themes include the rise of consumer culture, the importance of public display and spectacle, the gendered nature of consumption, and the evolution of urban identity through visual performance.
What is the central research question?
The research explores how social, geographic, and economic shifts in turn-of-the-century New York created a new type of consumerism dependent on display, and how artists interpreted these changes in their work.
Which methodology is employed in this study?
The thesis utilizes a qualitative art-historical and cultural analysis, focusing on the close observation of paintings and etchings by Everett Shinn and John Sloan within the historical context of urban development.
What topics are covered in the main section of the paper?
The main part of the thesis discusses the development of the department store, the impact of popular entertainment like vaudeville and nickelodeons, the role of advertising, and a detailed analysis of specific artworks illustrating these developments.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Core keywords include Ashcan School, New York City, consumerism, urban visuality, spectatorship, and the gendered gaze.
How does the author interpret the role of women in these paintings?
The author argues that women were often depicted as targets of commercial display, acting as both participants in consumer culture and as objects of fascination for the male gaze within the urban public sphere.
What conclusion does the author draw regarding the Ashcan artists' perspective?
The author concludes that these artists did not simply critique or purely celebrate consumer culture, but rather engaged with it through an ironic lens, capturing both the excitement of the "new order" and the anxieties surrounding artificiality and pretension.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Amelie Meyer (Autor:in), 2011, Consumerism, Gender and Ways of Seeing. New York in Works of the Ashcan School, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/537941
