Jim the Boxer
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 51 x 38.2 cm (20 1/16 x 15 1/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 21" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.16872
Art Historical Context
"Jim the Boxer," created around 1937 by artist George File, offers a colorful glimpse into American folk art traditions. Produced as part of the Index of American Design—a Works Progress Administration project that documented decorative arts across the United States during the Great Depression—this work records a carved wooden figure originally standing 21 inches tall The piece reflects the era’s interest in preserving vernacular craftsmanship amid rapid modernization. File employed watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paperboard to render the subject with lively detail and subtle modeling. M...
About the Artist
George File
George File is an artist whose work survives in museum collections in sufficient number to indicate a sustained and productive career, even though the biographical details that might place him within a specific artistic tradition — his dates, his nationality, his training — have not been established in the sources currently accessible to researchers. His name appears consistently enough across ins...