Blue Glass Lamp
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 35.5 x 27.7 cm (14 x 10 7/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 15 1/2" high; 7" wide
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.12574
Art Historical Context
Helen Bronson's *Blue Glass Lamp* (c. 7) is a captivating watercolor and graphite rendering on paperboard, measuring 35.5 x 27.7 cm. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), this work meticulously documents a delicate blue glass lamp—originally 15½ inches high and 7 wide—showcasing its elegant curves and translucent hues. Bronson's precise draftsmanship captures the lamp's subtle gradients and reflective qualities, transforming an everyday decorative object into a study of form and light. The IAD, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1...
About the Artist
Helen Bronson
Helen Bronson is an artist whose biographical details remain largely undocumented in the scholarly record. No confirmed dates of birth or death have been established, and her nationality and the cultural context in which she worked have not been definitively identified. The works attributed to her suggest a period of activity that has attracted curatorial attention, but the fuller circumstances of...