Medicine Man

Art Historical Context

**Medicine Man** by Yolande Delasser, created around 1937, captures a striking figure from American cultural heritage through delicate watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paperboard. Measuring just 30.4 x 22.9 cm, this intimate work exemplifies the precision and vibrancy of mixed-media techniques, where fluid watercolors blend with the fine lines of graphite and the bold accents of colored pencil to render textures and details with lifelike clarity. As part of the Index of American Design—a monumental Works Progress Administration (WPA) project from the Great Depression era—this artwork belongs to a vast archive of over 15,000 renderings documenting everyday American objects, folk art, and design traditions. Sponsored by the federal government between 1935 and 1942, the Index aimed to celebrate and preserve the nation's artistic legacy amid economic hardship, employing artists like Delasser to create faithful, stylized depictions for public education and inspiration. Housed in the National Gallery of Art, **Medicine Man** highlights the cultural significance of indigenous and folk figures in American identity, offering visitors a window into 20th-century efforts to honor diverse traditions. Its modest scale invites close contemplation, revealing how everyday materials can immortalize history's quiet heroes.

About the Artist

Yolande Delasser · 1855–present

Yolande Delasser was an American artist active during the mid-1930s, best known for her meticulous contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Amid the Great Depression, this ambitious New Deal initiative commissioned artists to document America's rich heritage of folk art and utilitarian objects through precise watercolor ren...