Roasing Oven
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper
Dimensions
overall: 23.1 x 30.7 cm (9 1/8 x 12 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
1943.8.13425
Art Historical Context
Samuel Fineman's *Roasting Oven* (c. 1937) captures the humble yet essential hearth of early American life in a meticulous watercolor, graphite, and gou rendering on paper, measuring 23.1 x 30.7 cm. This intimate study highlights the functional beauty of a traditional roasting oven—a cast-iron fixture used for slow-cooking meats over open flames—evoking the warmth and ingenuity of colonial and frontier kitchens. Created as part of the Index of American Design, a Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1942, the work reflects New Deal efforts to document and cele...
About the Artist
Samuel Fineman
Samuel Fineman was an American artist active during the late 1930s, best known for his meticulous contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This ambitious initiative commissioned artists across the United States to create watercolor renderings of everyday folk art, crafts, and decorative objects, capturing the essence of Ame...