About: John R. Grabach

John R. Grabach (March 2, 1886 – March 17, 1981) was an American painter who gained prominence in the art world of the 1920s and 1930s. He was known for his gritty, social realism works depicting urban working-class scenes of New York City and New Jersey. Although his work resembles that of the Ashcan school, he is generally considered a post-Ashcan, urban realist. Characterized as the “leading American painter of the Great Depression” and “a dynamic painter with a strong spirit of nationalism,” his career spanned most of the 20th century. Grabach also authored the art text, How to Draw the Human Figure, first published in 1957.