Young Americans in New York genre painting of the mid-19th century

The New York antebellum genre painting, in particular depiction of urban youths, mainly newsboys, is analysed. Though it can hardly be called realistic, the genre art reflected economic, political, and sociocultural changes taking place in the United States. To a large extent, the ideology influenced representations of everyday life in America. Some paintings of a number of genre artists (Th. LeClear, F.Edmonds, R.C.Woodville) seem to be in line with the ideas of the Young America movement maintained in its organ, the Democratic Review.