One Third of a Nation 1939

O. Louis Guglielmi made this painting, One Third of a Nation, using oil paint with a real eye for geometric structure. It’s the kind of painting where you can see the artist figuring things out as they go along. The buildings are built from layered hues and tones, but they don’t quite resolve into a realistic picture of a street scene. There's an orange block rising from a blue block and, for me, these abrupt colour changes are a bit jarring, a bit uncomfortable. A stark contrast, just like life sometimes. Look closely at the top of the tallest building – you can see an attempt to make the building look like it's been overgrown with climbing leaves, a kind of optimistic but also futile gesture. Guglielmi reminds me of Giorgio de Chirico, someone else who conjures haunting, empty cityscapes. They both capture something about the alienation and isolation of modern life, but leave enough space for us to bring our own stories to the canvas.