Depression Era New York City - Journey Back in Time - American Scene

This is a painting about a man who travels back into the past and engages with a different stage in his life.
Arnold Friedman worked at the New York City Post Office for four decades, and after his retirement, he returned to that bleak world to paint realistic depictions of the regimented life the workers endured each day. In the present work, "Leaving on Schedule," the artist depicts mailmen in almost military formation as they perform their repetitive end-of-day tasks. He does not show any faces except that of the supervisor. The mailmen are cloaked in the same uniform. They are not characterized as individuals but reduced to basic shapes. Their heavy over-the-shoulder mailbags symbolize the weight people have to bear. To reinforce this concept of bearing-the-weight a scale is shown in use. Friedman leaves a vast space in the foreground empty to imply the emptiness of the mailmen's lives.
This is a homecoming for Friedman. He is looking back at his life and assessing it in cold, hard terms. Moreover, Freidman is making a statement about the hardship of people's lives. The painting was done during the Depression, and the mailman represents most of us.
Arnold Aaron Friedman (American, 1874-1946), "Leaving on Schedule", Oil on Wood Panel, circa 1935, signed, and faintly inscribed "New York P.O. STA. Y" lower right, paper label and Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc. label to verso, giltwood frame. Image: 11.5" H x 26.5" W; frame: 15.25" H x 30.25" W. Provenance: Sotheby's, New York, 20 June 1985, Lot 229. Hirschl & Adler, New York