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One Third of a Nation

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"One Third of a Nation"
ArtistO. Louis Guglielmi
Year1939
MediumOil and tempera on wood
Dimensions76.2 cm × 61 cm (30.0 in × 24 in)
LocationMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Accession43.47.10

"One Third of a Nation" is a 1939 painting by American artist O. Louis Guglielmi. Done in oil and tempera on wood, the painting depicts an impoverished apartment block. Guglielmi's work is filled with imagery detailing the poor quality of life during the Great Depression;[1][2] the buildings seen in the painting are run down, and coffin-like shapes are strewn in the deserted street.[3]

The painting shares a title with One-Third of a Nation, a 1938 play intended to draw attention to poor Americans during the Great Depression, and with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's inaugural address at the start of his second term.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b ""One Third of a Nation"". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  2. ^ Doris E. Brown. "Art Canvasses '30s Lifestyle." Central New Jersey Home News (February 18, 1979), p. F10.
  3. ^ Erika Doss. "Looking at Labor: Images of Work in 1930s American Art." Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. Design, Culture, Identity: The Wolfsonian Collection 24 (2002), p. 245.