Chair

Art Historical Context

Behold the exquisite rendering *Chair* by Marcus Moran, created around 1936 as part of the Index of American Design (IAD). This delicate watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite work on paperboard (35.5 x 24.1 cm) captures the essence of an everyday American furniture piece—measuring 32 inches high overall, an 18-inch seat height and 16-inch width. Moran's precise technique brings the chair's form, wood grain, and subtle contours to life, showcasing the IAD's mission to document the nation's vernacular design heritage. Commissioned under the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression, the IAD employed artists like Moran to produce over 15,000 detailed plates of American folk art, crafts, and decorative objects. This effort not only preserved cultural artifacts at risk of loss but also celebrated regional craftsmanship, fostering national pride in everyday ingenuity amid economic hardship. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's collection, *Chair* exemplifies how watercolor's fluidity combined with colored pencil's precision and graphite's fine lines rendered complex textures realistically. It invites us to appreciate the humble beauty of American design, reminding visitors of the artistry in the ordinary.