Minstrel Puppet
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paper
Dimensions
overall: 35.7 x 28 cm (14 1/16 x 11 in.) Original IAD Object: 42 3/4" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.15728
Art Historical Context
Verna Tallman's *Minstrel Puppet*c. 1937) is a captivating watercolor, graphite, and pen-and-ink rendering on paper, measuring 35.7 x 28 cm. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression, this artwork meticulously documents a folk puppet standing 42 3/4 inches tall. The IAD, launched in 1935, artists across the U.S. to produce over 15,000 detailed plates celebrating everyday American crafts and decorative arts, preserving cultural heritage amid economic hardship. Tallman's precise technique—blending fluid watercolor wa...
About the Artist
Verna Tallman
Verna Tallman remains a figure about whom the historical record has preserved very little. No birth or death dates have been established, and her nationality and training are not documented in major reference sources. The works attributed to her suggest an engagement with decorative or illustrative traditions, though without more contextual documentation it is difficult to place her within a spec...