Day Bed

Art Historical Context

Harry Eisman's *Day Bed* (1941) is a captivating watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite rendering on paperboard, measuring 44.4 x 55.9 cm. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project during the Great Depression, this artwork meticulously documents an elegant American furniture piece. The original day bed it depicts—61 inches long, 21 inches wide, with back posts 38 inches high and the bed surface 16½ inches off the floor—exemplifies functional yet graceful vernacular design, likely from the 18th or 19th century. The IAD, active from 1935 to 1942, employed artists across the U.S. to preserve everyday American crafts through precise, colorful illustrations, safeguarding cultural heritage amid economic hardship. Eisman's technique blends soft watercolor washes for depth and texture with the fine lines of colored pencil and graphite for intricate details, capturing the wood grain, upholstery, and proportions with documentary accuracy. This medium allowed for vivid, scalable reproductions that highlighted regional craftsmanship. Displayed in the National Gallery of Art's collection, *Day Bed* invites visitors to appreciate how everyday objects embody American ingenuity and aesthetic sensibility, bridging art, history, and domestic life in a single, beautifully rendered sheet.

About the Artist

Harry Eisman · 1855–present

Harry Eisman is an artist about whom the historical record remains sparse, and reliable details regarding his dates, nationality, and training have not been firmly established in available scholarship. The works associated with his name suggest engagement with the graphic arts or printmaking traditions, though the full scope of his career and artistic interests is difficult to characterize without...