Associated American Artists: Prints for People

"Associated American Artists“made a revolution in the modern collection of prints in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Founded by Reeves Leventhal in 1934, the collection was designed to provide accessible works of art of the middle and upper classes throughout the United States. By publishing limited editions of 250 copies, which will be sold for $ 5 a piece (about $ 88 today), the collection gave people fingerprints through advertising campaigns by mail, sales at department stores and, ultimately, Mobile exhibitions. Leventhal controlled which artists and objects were published, focusing on topics representing the “American scene.” Refusing European modernism and abstraction, Leventhal chose works by American regionalists and socialist realists, which also explored the community and the lifestyle of ordinary people. as outstanding social problems of the 1930s and 40s.