Springtime 1919

Jerome Myers made this etching called Springtime in the United States. Myers was known for his sympathetic depictions of urban life, particularly the immigrant experience in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Here, a woman and children gather under a tree, likely in a city park. The image is soft, sketchy, and intimate, evoking a sense of fleeting, everyday joy. Myers was part of a group of artists known as the Ashcan School, who rejected the formal constraints of academic art in favor of gritty, realistic portrayals of working-class life. The Ashcan School questioned the traditional institutions of the art world, such as the National Academy of Design, and sought to create a more democratic and accessible art. Their work often served as a form of social commentary, drawing attention to the lives of those who were often overlooked or marginalized. To fully understand an artwork like this, we need to look at the cultural and economic context of its time.