Pelerine

Art Historical Context

This watercolor rendering of a pelerine was created by Virginia Berge 1935 and 2 for the Index of American Design a New Deal initiative of the Works Progress Administration. The project hired artists to produce detailed visual records of American decorative arts, folk crafts, and historical objects at a time when many such items risked being lost. Berge’s sheet, executed in watercolor, graphite, and heightening on paper, exemplifies the precise, almost documentary style required by the Index. A pelerine is a short cape or ornamental collar, often richly embroidered or edged in lace, that was a fashionable accessory in earlier American dress. By isolating the garment against a plain ground, the artist highlights its construction, texture, and pattern, turning a once-worn object into a lasting study of design and craftsmanship. The combination of transparent watercolor washes with graphite underdrawing and white heightening allowed artists to capture both the delicacy of fabric and the play of light across its surface. Now in the National Gallery of Art, this modest work (just over 15 by 12 inches) stands as both an artistic achievement and a historical document. It preserves the visual character of American costume and needlework for later generations, reminding viewers of the skill and beauty embedded in everyday objects of the past.

About the Artist

Virginia Berge · 1855–present

Virginia Berge was an American artist active around 1935 whose surviving body of work consists of meticulously rendered watercolor and graphite illustrations of historic clothing and accessories. Her early life and formal training are not well documented. She is known exclusively through her participation in the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration t...