Armchair
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, gouache, colored pencil and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 30.4 x 24.2 cm (11 15/16 x 9 1/2 in.) Original IAD Object: none given
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.4328
Art Historical Context
Edna C. Rex's *Armchair* (c. 1937) captures the charm of American decorative arts through a meticulous rendering of a classic armchair, likely inspired by early 19th-century furniture traditions. Created as part of the Index of American DesignIAD), a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project initiative, this watercolor, gouache, colored, and graphite work on paperboard (30.4 x 24.2 cm) showcases's skill in translating three-dimensional objects into vivid, two-dimensional studies. Housed in the National Gallery of Art, it exemplifies the IAD's mission to document and celebrate everyday American cr...
About the Artist
Edna C. Rex
Edna Crenshaw Rex was an American artist active in the late 1930s and around 1940, best known for her meticulous contributions to the Index of American Design, the federally funded visual survey of American decorative arts produced under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. Her full name — Edna Crenshaw Rex — appears in the National Gallery of Art's records, which holds the Ind...