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 benches trying to catch some rest while still hoping to be available for potential employment. The dramatic diagonals of the benches lead the viewer back into the emptiness of industrial buildings that show no sign of economic activity.