George Segal
Depression Bread Line, 1999

By: Daniel Parnes

I have never been a big fan of art. I always enjoyed museums, but more for the historical displays, not the art. For my project I visited the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, N.J., and I was a little impressed. Although I did not like most of the art that was displayed I did enjoy the atmosphere in which it was presented. The museum in open air and the pieces are shown in a way that the landscape seems to interact with them. Walking around I was sure that I would find nothing of interest when literally out of the corner of my eye I saw something interesting. I walked around the corner to find Depression Bread Line, by George Segal. The sculpture was about six feet tall by about seven feet long and depicted five men standing outside of a closed door in a bread line during the depression.

From a distance, looking at the piece as a whole, I could see the forms of poor men waiting their turn for a few morsels of food. They are dressed in long shabby coats, and hats with broken brims. As they stood with their heads down hands in their pockets, I was given the impression that they were cold, tired and probably dirty. When I moved around to the front of the piece the emotion became even clearer. The men’s faces were drooping and sad. They were the faces of beaten men, down and out, standing in a place they never thought they would be, doing what needed to be done to feed their families.

Similar to the photo, Migrant Mother, Nipomo Valley, this close up view shows that the coats are clearly torn and that the men are wearing tattered scarves, clearly showing the signs of hard times.1 The scarves also help to reinforce the cold, again showing what these men were willing to go through to feed their families. The close up view from the front shows that the artist did not give detail to the eyes of these poor men. The eyes which can sometimes be the most telling feature were perhaps not given detail in order to helps hide the shame these men must have felt. Finally I observed the art from the rear. This perspective gave me the feeling that I was standing in the line myself, waiting for my few crumbs. Standing behind these men peering around them I could almost feel the anticipation of getting the food that was only a few steps away. I felt it was almost my turn, if only these other guys weren’t in the way, a feeling at least some of these men must have had.

I can only imagine the smell from such a place. The smell of some government supplied food product mixed with body odor and filth from the unwashed clothing. The theme of this piece is clearly depiction of class; more specifically the culture of the lower class during the depression. To me, the posture of the statues helps to enforces this. The shoulders are slumped and the heads are down which could be symbolic of men down on their luck or feeling sorry for themselves. Hands in the coat pockets, says to me that the men are cold and could not afford gloves. The artist chose to use bronze to make this Depression Bread Line. I believe that there was no better medium for making this piece. The cold metal helps reinforce the environment the piece is depicting. By using a metal that tarnishes and oxidizes the artist adds to the dirty feeling of the time. In taking the time to do an assignment that I was not excited to do I found a great museum that displays art in a fun and interactive way. I also found a piece of art that I truly enjoyed (surprise to me). The abstract art, which is most of what the Grounds for Sculpture offers, is not something that I find enjoyment in, but in finding Depression Bread Line I was able to connect with a piece of art that spoke to me through my love of history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Segal, George. Depression Bread Line, Cast Bronze, 1999 (Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, N.J.).
Lazzari, Margaret and Schlesier, Dona. Exploring Art: A Global Thematic Approach. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2012