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O. Louis Guglielmi, Town Square, ca. 1936-1939, oil on canvas, 30 1⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (76.5 x 91.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1985.65.20
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Town Square
- Artist
- Date
- ca. 1936-1939
- Location
- Dimensions
- 30 1⁄8 x 36 1⁄8 in. (76.5 x 91.7 cm.)
- Markings
- back upper center in ink: "THE SQUARE" frame recto lower center on metal plate incised: WPA FEDERAL ART PROJECT frame verso upper left in crayon: 36-LOT 4 frame verso upper right in crayon: CRATE 3/5 2-054 backing recto upper left in crayon: #2 backing recto upper left in pencil: 11xe1237/BOX -1-
- Credit Line
- Transfer from the General Services Administration
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Monument — statue
- Architecture
- Cityscape — town
- Object — weapon — cannon
- Architecture Exterior — commercial — hotel
- Architecture Exterior — civic — town hall
- Object Number
- 1985.65.20
Artwork Description
A single coat thrown over the back of a chair is the only evidence of people or activity in this deserted square. O. Louis Guglielmi painted completely from his imagination, believing that his inner world was just as “real” as the streets and houses outside (Miller and Barr, American Realists and Magic Realists, 1943). Many of his paintings depict families struggling to live through the Depression, but Town Square implies a later, sadder moment when there are no people left. Even the statue gazes downward, as if wondering where all the life has gone.