Dorothy Dwin, Man's Shoe, 1941, watercolor and graphite on paper, Index of American Design, 1943.8.1977

Index of American Design

The Index is made up of 18,257 watercolor works by some 1,000 artists. A Federal Art Project dating to the Great Depression, it sought to identify and preserve a national, ancestral aesthetic for the United States. The watercolors depict American folk and decorative arts objects from the colonial period through 1900.

  • A carousel horse is drawn in graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor against a cream-white board in this horizontal illustration. The rendering is so detailed that at first (and even second) glance, it appears to be a photograph of the three-dimensional object. The white horse’s head is to the right, and its thick white mane blows back. Lines across the horse’s body suggest that the wood has split or it has been repaired over time. Traces of red, blue, pink, and yellow paint decorate the horse’s body where a blanket might lie across the back. Reins lead back from the horse’s parted lips and blocky teeth to reach the long, padded, dark gray seat. The stirrup we see emerges from the horse’s side. All four legs are lifted and hooves point lightly down and back.

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Verdant green fields roll in undulating waves back alongside a road in this horizontal landscape painting. The fields take up the left and center of the composition and are painted with thick, curling strokes of emerald, pea, and celery green, and corn yellow to suggest grasses and plants. The pale green road runs up along the right edge of the painting, and is layered with strokes and daubs in butter yellow, spring green, and faint blue. The fields and road meet the horizon line about halfway up the canvas, where an aquamarine-blue sky swirling with white and periwinkle-blue clouds fills the top half of the painting.

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A crowned, bearded man sits facing us on a throne, and he holds a sword and orb in this vertical drawing, which was made using black ink on parchment-colored paper. A three-peaked, jeweled crown nestles in a twisted turban on the man’s head. He faces us but his eyes look to our right, and he has a long, hooked nose and flowing hair and beard. A band of ornate jewels could be a collar resting over his shoulders and on his chest, or it could be that the edge of his robe is elaborately decorated. His robe has voluminous, flowing long sleeves and his garment is decorated with bands of jewels and fringe at the shoulders, hem, and down the front. His left hand, on our right, rests on a round orb about the size of an orange, and he holds the hilt of a jewel-encrusted sword upright with his other hand so the tip of the sword rests on the ground. The artist signed the work with his initials at the bottom center: “AD.”

Drawing

Nearly every artist makes drawings at some point. Some use them as a way of thinking, jotting ideas down as quickly as they occur. Such rough sketches can offer fascinating glimpses into the artist’s imagination or their process. Meanwhile, many artists make elaborate drawings as finished works.

A woman with pale skin, wearing a shimmering, azure-blue gown, stands next to a child with a pale pink complexion, wearing a flame-red suit in this vertical portrait painting. The woman stands at the center of the composition with her body angled to our left, but she looks at us from the corners of her brown eyes. She has a straight nose, softly arched brows, and her full, coral-pink lips are closed. A hint of a shiny silver earring pokes through brown ringlets, and one curl falls over one shoulder. Two long, white feathers droop off the side of her wide brimmed, black hat. The bodice and full skirt of her blue dress are trimmed with bands of gold along the hems, down the sleeves, and down the front of the skirt. The blue fabric is covered with short, diagonal strokes of lighter blue. White fabric covers the front of her bodice under a tall, wide, stiff, lacy white collar that extends from her chin to her shoulders. Two rose-pink bows are tied on the white fabric on her chest. The cuffs of her elbow-length sleeves have layers of white ruffles. She touches her skirt with her left hand, to our right, and with the other touches a monkey on the boy’s shoulder. To our left, the boy’s body faces us but he looks up at the woman with dark eyes. He has rounded cheeks, and his lips are parted in a slight smile. His shoulder-length blond hair reaches to his wide, lacy collar. His red suit has long sleeves, and the coat is buttoned down the front. Ivory-white gloves reach back over his forearms, and the tops of his knee-high, fawn-brown boots are folded over. He raises his left arm, closer to the woman, to hold a monkey on a tether. The monkey stands with its feet on the boy’s forearm and its front paws on the boy’s shoulder. The woman and boy stand on a wide, curved, peanut-brown stone step. A fluted column rises to our right of the woman, and a gold, brocade curtain hangs down the right edge of the canvas, partially in front of the column. A pearl-encrusted crown is tucked into the folds of the curtain. On a ledge to our left of the woman, a miniature orange tree grows in a pot. The landscape beyond has soft green trees against a blue sky mostly screened with parchment-brown clouds.

Fashion

Artworks provide an invaluable record of fashion throughout history. We can use art to trace the evolution of style. See how meticulously artists represent details in clothing and accessories, from the sheen of silk to reflections in a pearl.