Decorative Panel from Rail Car Interior
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor, gouache, and pen and ink on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 25.7 x 23.3 cm (10 1/8 x 9 3/16 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.12849
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Decorative Panel from Rail Interior*, a captivating watercolor, gouache, and pen-ink rendering by Wellington Blewett created around 1936. This intimate 10-by-9-inch work on paperboard meticulously captures the elegant ornamentation from a luxury train compartment, evoking the golden age of American rail travel when opulent interiors transformed long journeys into stylish adventures. As part of the Index of American Design—a ambitious Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression—this piece exemplifies a national effort to document an...
About the Artist
Wellington Blewett
**Wellington Blewett (1875–1962)** was a Canadian-born American artist renowned for his meticulous watercolor renderings of everyday American folk objects. Active primarily in the late 1930s, Blewett contributed significantly to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) that sought to document the nation's vernacular artistic heritage through...