Origins
The Great Depression and the rise of fascism in the 1930s caused politics and arts to collide as cultural liberals united to work on common goals. Communist parties adopted a policy of forming broad alliances with anybody willing to oppose fascism and became known as the Popular Front. After the official formation of the United Front in 1935, artists in the U.S. began seeing themselves as the “guardians of liberal and democratic ideals”
Social art became significant, with 1933-1938 seeing the formation of the John Reed Clubs, the Artists’ Union, the Harlem Artists Guild, and the American Artists’ Congress. Artists had an idealistic view of working-class culture and used the labor movement as a sort of prototype for their mission. There was a shift in the patronage, subject matter, and position of the art produced during this time.
By 1934 and 1935, it became clear that the John Reed Clubs' sectarian policies were not congruent with the Popular Front. At a meeting of the John Reed Club, the idea of an American Artists’ Congress was discussed and twelve of those present were given the task of organizing it. Stuart Davis was put in charge of forming its committee. Almost all of those involved with creating the AAC were established figures of the Communist left and had some connection with the John Reed Club.
Read more about this topic: American Artists' Congress, Organizational History
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—W. T. Lhamon, U.S. educator, critic. “Material Differences,” Deliberate Speed: The Origins of a Cultural Style in the American 1950s, Smithsonian (1990)