Relief Blues 1938

"Relief Blues" is a 1938 painting by O. Louis Guglielmi that depicts a scene of poverty and hardship. The artwork, created during the Great Depression, shows four figures in a cramped room, likely an apartment. The figures, each with a somber expression, appear to be struggling with the economic difficulties of the time. The woman seated in the foreground with her hands clasped, the man with his head in his hand, the woman writing at the table, and the woman in the background combing her hair, suggest a sense of despair and desperation. The artwork is a powerful testament to the social and economic realities of the era, and its realistic depiction of poverty resonates with viewers even today.