Pipe
c. 1939
Medium
watercolor, pen and ink, and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 29.5 x 23 cm (11 5/8 x 9 1/16 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.2232
Art Historical Context
In the late 1930s, as America grappled with the Great Depression, the Federal Art Project's Index of American Design commissioned artists like Malcolm Hackney to meticulously document the nation's folk art and crafts. Created around 1939, *Pipe* is a exquisite example: a detailed watercolor, pen and ink, and graphite rendering on paperboard, measuring 29.5 x 23 cm. Hackney's precise technique captures the intricate form and textures of what appears to be a traditional American tobacco pipe, highlighting everyday objects as cultural treasures. This work exemplifies the Index's mission to prese...
About the Artist
Malcolm Hackney
Malcolm Hackney (c. 1914–1982) was an American artist whose career briefly but impactfully intersected with the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration (WPA). Born in 1913, Hackney trained as a commercial artist and studied at the Yale Art School before joining the WPA Federal Art Project in New Haven, Connecticut, where he lived during the late 1930s. From 1938 to 1939, he contributed to the a...