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Relief Blues
ca. 1938
O. Louis Guglielmi
Born: Cairo, Egypt 1906
Died: Amagansett, New York 1956
tempera on fiberboard
24 x 30 in. (61.1 x 76.2 cm.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Transfer from The Museum of Modern Art
1971.447.34
Smithsonian American Art Museum
4th Floor, Luce Foundation Center
This painting shows a family on home relief during the Depression. O. Louis Guglielmi applied for relief during the early 1930s, before he managed to secure a meager wage through the Works Progress Administration. The unemployment that blossomed after the crash of 1929 was demoralizing for many Americans, and here, Guglielmi emphasized the figures’ despondent, haunted expressions. A relief worker on the right fills out forms to apply for welfare, while the man of the house can only watch helplessly. He probably had little choice but to ask the government for help, and the painting hints at an even sadder future should his application be refused.
For more information about this work visit the Luce Foundation Center.
Keywords
Architecture Interior - domestic - kitchen
Figure group
History - United States - Depression Era
Object - furniture - stove
Recreation - leisure - letter reading and writing
State of being - mood - desolation
New Deal - Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project - New York City
painting
paint - tempera
fiberboard
About O. Louis Guglielmi
Born: Cairo, Egypt 1906 Died: Amagansett, New York 1956
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