Courthouse Bell
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 29.4 x 21.6 cm (11 9/16 x 8 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
1943.8.8629
Art Historical Context
**Courthouse Bell** by Erwin Schwabe, created around 1936, is a captivating watercolor and graphite rendering on paperboard, measuring 11 9/16 x 8 1/2 inches. This piece belongs to the Index of American Design, a monumental New Deal-era project (1935–1942) under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. During the Great Depression, artists like Schwabe meticulously documented everyday American folk art, crafts, and design objects to preserve the nation's cultural heritage for future generations. Schwabe's precise depiction captures the sturdy, weathered form of a courthouse bell...
About the Artist
Erwin Schwabe
Erwin Schwabe remains one of the lesser-documented figures in the history of art, and the details of his training, birthplace, and lifespan have not been firmly established in the scholarly record. What survives of his work suggests a practiced hand engaged with the graphic and printmaking traditions of his era, though the precise school or master under whom he may have studied is not currently kn...