Known for their realistic paintings of the working life of New Yorkers, the Ashcan School is most often identified with its depictions of the grittier side of urban life.
True to its title, “Life and Fate” mixes gritty battlefield descriptions with acute psychological insights, wrenching dilemmas and deep philosophical reflections about the nature of good and evil.
The general trajectory is from gritty to glitzy, from punk assemblages, such as cabinets filled with pills and cigarette butts, to art that looks like bespoke luxury goods.