The Masses (1911-1918)
Originating in America in 1911, The Masses united art and (primarily socialist) politics in one wonderfully executed magazine. From pantufla's Flickr page:
Originally established as an earnest but ultimately dull socialist magazine, The Masses was taken over in 1912 by artists whose commitment to a new artistic age was only equalled by their support of socialist political causes. Modeled after the lavishly illustrated European satiric journals, Simplicissimus and L'Assiette au Beurre, the artists hired Max Eastman as editor who moved the magazine away from socialist "dogma" toward a more far-ranging program condemning racism, supporting women's rights, and promoting the work of a galaxy of writers and thinkers, including John Dewey, Carl Sandburg, Amy Lowell, John Reed, and Sherwood Anderson.
The Masses was particularly noted for its art. As official art editor, John Sloan designed the layout and worked with printers to reproduce vivid two-color covers and heavy black crayon drawings. The magazine attracted a number of urban realists who later became known as the Ashcan School (George Bellows, Stuart Davis, Glen Coleman and others); their drawings sought to offer raw appearing glimpses of the lower classes in daily life and in moments of crisis.
Visit THIS FLICKR SET for a collection of 46 images, including covers and interior pages. I've included some of my favorite covers below:
Thank you to ICONOCLASSIC for introducing me, via Tumblr.
August 19, 2010
Reader Comments (1)
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