''"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 The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

; the buildings seen in the painting are run down, and coffin-like shapes are strewn in the deserted street.

Erika Doss Erika Lee Doss is an American educator and author, having served as a professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Doss received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1983, and "has held fellowships at t ...

. "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. The painting shares a title with ''

One-Third of a Nation ''One Third of a Nation'' is a Living Newspaper play produced by the Federal Theatre Project in 1938. Written by Arthur Arent from research by the editorial staff of the Federal Theatre Project, it focused on the problem of housing in the United ...

'', a 1938 play intended to draw attention to poor Americans during the Great Depression, and with President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's inaugural address at the start of his second term.

References

1939 paintings Paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Death in art {{Met-stub