Arnold Hauser was an Hungarian art historian who wrote on the influence of change in social structure

Social structure

Social structure is a term used in the social sciences to refer to patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of the individuals. The usage of the term "social structure" has changed over time and may reflect the various levels of analysis...

s on art. His The Social History of Art (1951) argued that art—which began as "flat, symbolic, formalized, abstract and concerned with spiritual beings"—became more realistic

Realism (arts)

Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...

 and naturalistic as societies became less hierarchical and authoritarian, and more mercantile and bourgeois (Harrington).