November 24, 2024

By Arthur H. Gunther III

“The house I live in
A plot of earth, the street
The grocer and the butcher
Or the people that I meet
The children in the playground
The faces that I see
All races and religions
That’s America to me …”

These are some of the lyrics written in 1943 by Abel Meeropol and sung by Frank Sinatra in the 1945 film “The House I Live In,” with music by Earl Robinson.

The film, by Albert Maltz and produced by Mervyn LeRoy and Frank Ross, attacked anti-semitism at the end of World War II. A honorary Academy Award short, it stands now as a strong shout at prejudice and hate of any sort.

This painting, “Red Sky, Weathered House,” is an attempt to echo such inhumanity, especially today.

The work is an allegory off the ancient rhyme with biblical reference, “Red Sky at Night, Sailors’ Delight. Red Sky in Morning, Sailors’ Warning.”

The Weathered House is the one we live in. Which sky will prevail?

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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