High Armchair
c. 1940
Medium
watercolor, colored pencil, graphite, and pen and ink with some heightening on paper
Dimensions
overall: 45.7 x 35.4 cm (18 x 13 15/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 4'high; 1'9"wide; 1'7" deep.
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.4426
Art Historical Context
Step into the world of American design with *High Armchair*, a meticulous rendering by artist Virgil A. Liberto 1940. Created as part of the Index of American Design—a groundbreaking Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression—this watercolor, colored pencil, graphite,-and-ink drawing with subtle heightening captures a stately armchair measuring about 4 feet high, 1 foot 9 inches wide, and 1 foot 7 inches deep The Index, spanning 1935 to 1942, employed over 400 artists to document thousands of everyday American objects, from folk art to furnitu...