Chopping Knife
c. 1941
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 36 x 45 cm (14 3/16 x 17 11/16 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.11982
Art Historical Context
**Chopping Knife**, a meticulous watercolor and graphite rendering by Nicholas Amantea circa 1941, captures the humble yet essential form of an everyday American tool. Created as part of the Index of American Design—a groundbreaking Works Progress Administration (WPA project from 1935 to 1942—this artwork belongs to a vast archive of over 18,000 renderings that documented the nation's folk art, crafts, and utilitarian objects. During the Great Depression, artists like Amantea were employed to preserve these cultural treasures through precise, museum-quality depictions, ensuring that the ingenu...
About the Artist
Nicholas Amantea
Nicholas Amantea (1900–1978) was an American artist born on July 13, 1900, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His early life and artistic training are not well documented, but by the mid-1930s, he had established himself in New York City, where he contributed significantly to federal art initiatives during the Great Depression. From March 13, 1936, to July 15, 1942, Amantea worked for the Works Progress...