The Ashcan School was a group of artists who sought to capture the feel of turn-of-the-century New York City, through realistic and unglamorized portraits of everyday life. A critic, referring to their depictions of alleys, tenements, and slum dwellers, dubbed them the Ashcan School: a label that is often used as synonymous with that of another group — The Eight.

It largely consisted of Robert Henri and his circle. Henri, an influential teacher, was an admirer of the down-to-earth American realism of Thomas Eakins and Thomas Anshutz. In addition to Henri, the Ashcan School included these members of The Eight: Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), George Luks (1867-1933), William Glackens (1870-1938), John Sloan (1871-1951), and Everett Shinn (1876-1953). Others who are considered in the Ashcan school are: Alfred Maurer (1868-1932), George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925), Edward Hopper (1882-1967), and Guy Pène Du Bois (1884-1958). The spirit of the Ashcan School was carried on by the American Scene Painting of the 1920's and 1930's.