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Justice

George Segal, Depression Bread Line, 1991, plaster, wood, metal, and acrylic paint, 108 x 148 x 36 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2015.16. © The George and Helen Segal Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.

Additional Resources

Blog - Welcoming George Segal's "Depression Bread Line"

George Segal
‍Depression Bread Line

  • What are these people doing? Why do you think they are standing in line? Have you ever waited in a line? What for? What did it feel like?
  • This sculpture shows five figures waiting in a breadline during the Great Depression for access to free food. What do you notice about these figures? Who is and who is not standing in line?
  • How does art help us understand the lives of people of different times, places, and cultures?

The five figures seen here represent Americans waiting in line for public assistance during the Great Depression (1929–1939), the worst economic collapse in recent history. During this time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) enacted policies designed to save the country from economic decline. With this sculpture, Segal sought to “evoke the emotional tenor of FDR’s extraordinary four (presidential) terms: how it felt to live during the Great Depression and World War II.” A bronze cast of this original sculpture marks the Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Originally trained as a painter, Segal began experimenting with plaster figures when a student in one of his classes brought dry plaster bandages to class. With the help of his wife, Helen, he created a full body cast of himself, then reassembled the pieces to form a seated figure. Segal’s subsequent figures often inhabit environments that suggest the artist’s interest in the people and places familiar to him. Segal himself served as the model for the fourth figure from the right; the first figure in line, Leon Bibel, was Segal’s neighbor and once stood in the bread lines during the Depression.

  • What is the relationship between food justice and equity?
  • How does food justice fit within movements for social, economic, and environmental justice?
  • Is the government responsible for the well-being of its citizens?

Content Contributors

Exhibition sponsored by Kenneth C. Griffin

Learning and engagement programming for
We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy is sponsored by:

Sarah and Ross Perot, Jr. Foundation | Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates, & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. | Johnny and Jeanie Morris, Bass Pro Shops | Alturas Foundation | Harriet and Warren Stephens, Stephens Inc. | Sotheby’s | Bob and Becky Alexander | Marybeth and Micky Mayfield | Lamar and Shari Steiger | Jeff and Sarah Teague / Citizens Bank | Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities | Avis and Bill Bailey | Scarlett and Neff Basore | June Carter Family | Terri and Chuck Erwin | Jackye and Curtis Finch | The Harrison and Rhonda French Family | Jim and Susan von Gremp | Laurice Hachem | Shannon and Charles Holley | Valorie and Randy Lawson / Lawco Energy Group | Donna and Mack McLarty | Steve and Susan Nelson | Neal and Gina Pendergraft | Helen Porter | JT and Imelda Rose | Lee and Linda Scott | Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Catherine and Michael Mayton, Trustees | William Reese Company

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