Figure
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 58 x 50.8 cm (22 13/16 x 20 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.10137
Art Historical Context
Florence Truelson's *Figure* (1935/1942) is a captivating watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite on paper, measuring 58 x 50.8 cm. Created as part of the Index of American Design—a monumental Works Progress Administration (WPA) project the Great Depression—this piece exemplifies the program's mission to meticulously document America's folk art and decorative traditions through precise, artistic renderings. The Index, active from 1935 to 1942, employed hundreds of artists across the U. to capture the beauty of everyday objects, from quilts and pottery to whirligigs and sculptures, preserving...
About the Artist
Florence Truelson
Florence Truelson is an artist whose biographical details remain largely undocumented in the major art historical sources. No confirmed dates of birth or death have been established, and her nationality, training, and primary working period are not reliably recorded in available scholarship. Works attributed to Truelson suggest a practiced hand and an awareness of the artistic conventions of her ...