Running Horse Weather Vane
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 27.8 x 38.9 cm (10 15/16 x 15 5/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 24" long
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.16248
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Running Horse Weather Vane a vibrant watercolor and graphite rendering by Alfred Denghausen, created around 1937 as part of the Index of American Design (IAD). This New Deal-era project, sponsored by the Works Progress Administration, commissioned artists to meticulously document America's folk art and decorative traditions through precise, colorful drawings. Denghausen's depiction captures a dynamic 24-inch-long sheet metal weather vane, likely a 19th-century folk craft icon, showcasing the horse in mid-gallop against a stormy sky—evoking motion and the whimsy of rural American li...