One of two 1930s oil on stretched canvas paintings we have acquired by Robert T. Riley, a New York state fine artist and illustrator who worked in a social realist / WPA bleak stylized Regionalist aesthetic. In this expressive work, Riley evokes the anxieties caused by a football injury as a player is carted off the field, capturing the multitude of pained expressions on the faces of gathered medics, a team doctor, referees, coaches, and another hardened player. This somber painting was created during the depths of the Great Depression and it offers bleak commentary on the hardships endured by all men.
This work is unsigned but comes directly from the estate of the artist.
