Bench

Art Historical Context

**Bench** by Robert W.R. Taylor (1940) is a meticulous rendering from the Index of American Design, landmark WPA Federal Art Project that employed artists during the Great Depression to document America's folk art and decorative traditions. Created in watercolor, colored pencil, graphite on paper (26.7 x 35.6 cm), this work captures the sturdy form and craftsmanship of a wooden bench, measuring originally 2'10 1/4" long, 2'3 1/2" high, and 1'1" wide, with arms spanning 1'3 3/4". Taylor's precise depiction preserves the bench's vernacular design, likely rooted in early American furniture-making...

About the Artist

Robert W.R. Taylor

Robert W.R. Taylor was an American artist active in the mid-twentieth century who contributed significantly to the Index of American Design, the Works Progress Administration project that employed artists to document American folk art and decorative culture through exacting watercolor renderings. The National Gallery of Art, which received the Index collection in 1943, holds seventy-one works by T...