Object Details
Artist
O. Louis Guglielmi, born Cairo, Egypt 1906-died Amagansett, NY 1956
Luce Center Label
The overcast sky, neglected buildings, and fallen monuments in Connecticut Autumn create an eerie landscape that evokes the poverty and despair of the 1930s. The young boy flying a kite appears full of hope and innocence, but a closer look reveals that his kite string crosses the power lines. The statue of an angel underscores the imminent tragedy, as he beckons to the boy from the monument yard (Baker, O. Louis Guglielmi, A Retrospective Exhibition, 1980).
Luce Object Quote
"In 1932 . . . it was a considerably different world that I was to face, a world of changing values and frightening lack of money." The artist, quoted in Miller and Barr, American Realists and Magic Realists, 1943
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration
Date
1937
Object number
1971.447.35
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Painting
Medium
oil on fiberboard
Dimensions
23 7/8 x 30 in. (60.5 x 76.3 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
On View
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 39A
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Architecture\industry
Landscape\building
Landscape\season\autumn
Architecture\industry\foundry
Landscape\Connecticut
Recreation\sport and play\kite flying
Figure male\child\full length
New Deal\Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project\New York City
Architecture\monument\gravestone
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_1971.447.35