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Urban Poverty

The Unemployed

by Raphael Soyer

The scope of the unemployment problem during the Great Depression is poignantly portrayed in this 1931 painting. 

Weary men stand in line and scan the newspaper for jobs in what appears to be an industrial area of a large city.  Many others are stretched out on I-beams most likely made at the factory, trying to catch some rest while still hoping to be available for potential employment. The dramatic diagonals of the beam lead the viewer back into the emptiness of industrial buildings that show no sign of economic activity.

Learn more about this artist:

Artist Biography

Lesson Plans

Phillip Evergood - Spring

Raphael Soyer, The Unemployed, 1931.  Oil on canvas, 10 x 16 in. 

Museum Purchase, Derby Fund, from the Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller Collection of American Social Commentary Art 1930-1970

Within Urban Poverty...
Ida Abelman Francis Chapin Phillip Evergood George Gilbert Irwin Hoffman Morris Huberland Elizabeth Olds Moses Soyer Raphael Soyer

Rural Poverty Urban Poverty Anti-Poverty Efforts Fall Short Labor Disputes
Ida Abelman
Thomas Hart Benton
Lucienne Bloch
Harry Brodsky
Paul Cadmus
Francis Chapin
Jack Delano
Phillip Evergood
George Gilbert
Hugo Gellert
Joseph Hirsch
Irwan Hoffman
Morris Huberland
Meritt Mauzey
Elizabeth Olds
Walter Quirt
Moses Soyer
Raphael Soyer
Lynd Ward


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