Realism is neither a monolithic designation nor a single movement; rather it is an umbrella term that includes a range of aesthetic, stylistic, social, cultural, economic and political concerns. Whether the Ashcan School or the other urban realists, the artists of the Southwest or those associated with regionalism, all "realist" artists in this gallery drew upon conventional codes of perspective, representation and expression. The rise of photography and its exact representation of an object spurred their quest for the "aura of the real."