Comb
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 29.3 x 23.1 cm (11 9/16 x 9 1/8 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.2378
Art Historical Context
Vincent Burzy's *Comb* (c. 1936), a precise watercolor and graphite rendering on paperboard, captures intricate details of an everyday American object from the National Gallery of Art's Index of American Design collection. 29.3 x 23.1 cm, this work exemplifies the meticulous draftsmanship employed to document folk art and decorative crafts during the Great Depression era. Created as part of the Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Index of American Design (1935–1942) commissioned artists like Burzy to produce over 15,000 watercolor studies of historical Ameri...