Figure
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and heightening on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 30.5 x 22.9 cm (12 x 9 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.9922
Art Historical Context
Behold *Figure*, a captivating watercolor rendering by Byron Dingman, created between 1935 and 1942 as part of the of American Design. This Works Progress Administration (WPA project during the Great Depression employed artists across the U.S. to meticulously document everyday objects of American folk art, crafts, and design Dingman's precise depiction preserves a stylized human figure, emblematic of the nation's vernacular creativity, now housed in the National Gallery Art. Crafted on paperboard with watercolor, graphite, and heightening—a technique using white pigment for luminous highlight...
About the Artist
Byron Dingman
Byron Dingman (1886–1951) was an American artist whose career, though sparsely documented in personal terms, gained significance through his contributions to the Index of American Design, a New Deal-era Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Active primarily in the late 1930s and early 1940s, Dingman produced meticulous renderings of everyday American folk art objects, ...