Plow
c. 1938
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 42 x 63.8 cm (16 9/16 x 25 1/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 59" long
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.13013
Art Historical Context
**Plow** by John Thorsen (c. 1938) is a captivating watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 42 x 63.8 cm, housed in the National Gallery of's Index of American Design collection. This artwork faithfully captures a traditional wooden plow, originally 59 inches long showcasing the ingenuity of early American agricultural tools essential for tilling the soil and sustaining rural life. Created during the Great Depression as part of the Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Index of American Design employed artists like Thorsen to document everyday ob...