Burlesque Stage Backdrop
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
sheet: 50.5 × 75 cm (19 7/8 × 29 1/2 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.7644
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of1930s American entertainment *Burlesque Stage Backdrop*, a meticulously rendered watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paperboard by Perkinsarnly, created between 1935 and 1942. Measuring 50.5 × 75 cm, this piece is a standout from the Index of American Design (IAD), a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project that employed artists during the Great Depression to document the nation's folk and decorative arts. Harnly, renowned for his precise and colorful IAD renderings, captured the essence of a theatrical backdrop used in burlesque shows—lively performances blending ...
About the Artist
Perkins Harnly · 1901–1986
Perkins Harnly was born on October 14, 1901, on a cattle ranch in the rugged plains of Ogallala, Nebraska—the same year Queen Victoria died, an irony that foreshadowed his lifelong obsession with Victorian opulence. Leaving behind the stark Midwest, he ventured to Los Angeles in 1922, spending six years there before settling in New York City in 1928. There, Harnly studied at the School of Interior...