Flail
c. 1938
Medium
watercolor and colored pencil on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 30.8 x 41.7 cm (12 1/8 x 16 7/16 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.10317
Art Historical Context
**Flail** *Max Fernekes, c. 1938* Watercolor and colored pencil onboard, 30.8 × 41.7 cm (12 1/8 × 16 7/16 in.)*Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art* into the hardworking world of early American agriculture with Max Fernekes' meticulous rendering of a *Flail*, a humble yet essential tool for threshing grain. watercolor and colored pencil depiction captures the flail's simple, functional design—a sturdy wooden handle linked by a leather thong to a swinging swiple—evoking the rhythms of farm life before mechanized machinery took over. Fernekes, a skilled Chicago artist, brings ...