Marionette
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor, graphite, pen and ink, and gouache on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 44.4 x 28.6 cm (17 1/2 x 11 1/4 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
1943.8.15643
Art Historical Context
**Marionette** by Beverly Chichester, created between 1935 and 1942, is a vibrant rendering in watercolor, graphite, pen ink, and gouache on paperboard, measuring 44.4 x 28.6 cm. This detailed depiction captures a 21-inch-high original marionette, showcasing Chichester's skill in translating three-dimensional folk art into a precise, colorful two-dimensional form. As part of the National Gallery Art's collection, it exemplifies the meticulous craftsmanship of American design documentation. Produced under the Index of American Design—a Federal Art of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) dur...
About the Artist
Beverly Chichester
Beverly Chichester was an American artist active in the mid-1930s and early 1940s, whose contributions to the Index of American Design reveal an eye particularly drawn to the world of American toys, dolls, and childhood objects. Working in watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and graphite on paperboard, Chichester produced a body of work distinguished by its delicacy of observation and its sympath...