Ice Cream Mold
c. 1941
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper
Dimensions
overall: 36 x 32.8 cm (14 3/16 x 12 15/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 4 15/16" long; 3 13/16" wide
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.12634
Art Historical Context
Created around 1941 by artist Chris Makrenos *Ice Cream Mold* is delicate rendering from the Index of American Design (IAD), a Works Progress Administration (WPA) that celebrated everyday American craftsmanship. This watercolor, graphite, and gou work on paper (36 x 32.8 cm) meticulously captures a small metal mold—originally 4 15/16 inches long and 3 13/16 inches wide—likely used in mid-20th-century ice cream parlors or homes to shape festive treats into playful forms. The IAD, active from 1935 to 1942, employed hundreds of artists to document folk art and utilitarian objects, preserving van...
About the Artist
Chris Makrenos
Chris Makrenos was an American artist active in the mid-twentieth century who contributed a substantial body of work to the Index of American Design, the New Deal-era federal project that documented American folk art and decorative culture through meticulous watercolor illustration. His works are held in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and span a wide range of subjects drawn from ...