Martyr Hill

O. Louis Guglielmi, Martyr Hill, ca. 1933-1934, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.125
Copied O. Louis Guglielmi, Martyr Hill, ca. 1933-1934, oil on canvas, 22 x 32 in. (55.9 x 81.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor, 1964.1.125

Artwork Details

Title
Martyr Hill
Artist
Date
ca. 1933-1934
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
22 x 32 in. (55.9 x 81.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of Labor
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Architecture Exterior — industry — waterwork
  • Architecture Exterior — civic
  • Object — weapon — cannon
  • New Deal — Public Works of Art Project — New Hampshire
  • New Deal — Public Works of Art Project — New York City
  • Waterscape — canal
  • Monument — memorial
  • Architecture — bridge
Object Number
1964.1.125
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1964.1.125

Artwork Description

The eerie loneliness of Louis Guglielmi's painting Martyr Hill seems surreal. Yet the Grand Army of the Republic Hall in Peterborough, New Hampshire, actually looks much as it does in this painting. Guglielmi, who spent many summers at the MacDowell artist colony in Peterborough, knew the place well. He altered the scene slightly but effectively to create an uneasy, melancholy mood reflecting the troubles of the time.

Sweeping diagonal lines draw the viewer's attention to the GAR Hall, with its spiky finials and a cannon aimed to menace the viewer. In fact, the cannon stands on the opposite side of the hall’s lawn. Guglielmi removed the windows from the hall’s side wall, creating the solid red parallelogram he placed very near the dark front wall of the house in the foreground. This causes the eye to lurch disconcertingly from foreground to background. Nothing in the painting casts a shadow—the buildings therefore look oddly insubstantial. The sculpted bronze soldier on the Civil War Memorial, his head bent in sorrow, underlines the lack of a living person in the scene. The Nubanusit River flows under a bridge and out toward the viewer, who is left with no place to stand.

1934: A New Deal for Artists exhibition label

Related Books

1934_500.jpg
1934: A New Deal for Artists
During the Great Depression, president Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “new deal for the American people,” initiating government programs to foster economic recovery. Roosevelt’s pledge to help “the forgotten man” also embraced America’s artists. The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) enlisted artists to capture “the American Scene” in works of art that would embellish public buildings across the country. Although it lasted less than one year, from December 1933 to June 1934, the PWAP provided employment for thousands of artists, giving them an important role in the country’s recovery. Their legacy, captured in more than fifteen thousand artworks, helped “the American Scene” become America seen.