52. Carmel Wilson, Gossips
This is not a picture of fabric appliquéd onto craft paper.
This is not a picture made from bits of fabric appliquéd onto craft paper. This is a watercolor painting of a picture made from bits of fabric appliquéd onto craft paper. It is astounding.
During the Great Depression, the Federal Art Project, a tiny department within the Works Progress Administration, hit upon the idea of hiring artists to catalog American material culture, mostly by accurately painting objects in watercolor. The Index of American Design employed roughly 1,000 artists between 1935 and 1942. These artists produced some 18,000 images, half of what was originally envisioned before funding was cut. This archive of realistic paintings includes an astonishing variety of American crafts—butter molds, ship figureheads, carousel horses, ox yokes, weathervanes, and countless other types of objects—which eventually made its way to the National Gallery of Art, our national art collection, our patrimony. It’s difficult to imagine such a project occurring today. But there’s no reason it couldn’t.
The artists who made the paintings in the Index of American Design are all but unknown. In some cases there is almost no biographical information available online—not even where they lived or when they died. They’re certainly not household names. One wonders: in the future, what art will be remembered from the 20th century? Will it be the Abstract Expressionism we’ve all been taught to genuflect in front of, or will it be things barely known today, things like an unsung treasure trove of works and their quiet spectacle of skill?
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This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 words on 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary. Through December 31, 2026.
I’m looking for ideas for this series — have something you’d like me to consider for inclusion? Please feel free to leave a comment!
Rainey....I loved this. Thank you. At first, I studied the art detecting such detail, etc., then read your reflections and WOW, aren't creativity and necessity born of the same desire to express and engage. This stunned me into a totally different dimension and I thank you, again....
What an amazing cornucopia of ‘art’ tasks to disappear into! And of course that amount of ‘work’ would have to result in absolute moments of magic like this. 🥲