Two ideological conceptualizations in art challenged and proposed an alternative to Israel's political and artistic establishment in the country’s first decade: Canaanism and Social Realism. This article examines these currents in terms of the alternative they pose to the Israeli art mainstream. We assess similarities and differences between the movements and their impact on the Israeli art scene in the country’s first years by examining several aspects and levels of reference: place, political intentionality, time and history, canonization, and identity. Neither of these strongly contrasting streams was able to defeat the artistic mainstream; both were marginalized in the Israeli art field.
