Rattle

Art Historical Context

**Rattle** by Dana Bartlett (1935/1942) is a captivating watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 35.5 x 28 cm. This delicate depiction likely captures an everyday American folk object—a child's rattle—rendered with meticulous detail that highlights its form, texture, and subtle colors. Bartlett, an artist active during the Great Depression era, contributed to preserving cultural artifacts through precise, almost photographic illustrations. Created as part of the **Index of American Design**, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1942, t...

About the Artist

Dana Bartlett

Dana Bartlett was an American painter known for his luminous depictions of the California landscape, particularly the sun-drenched hills, coastlines, and desert terrain of the American Southwest. Working primarily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bartlett became a significant figure in the California Impressionist movement, bringing the warm, atmospheric light of Southern Cali...