Spectacles

Art Historical Context

Created around 1938, C Parker’s *Spectacles* is a graphite and watercolor drawing on paper, measuring just over 11 by 9 inches. This modest yet meticulously rendered work belongs to the Index American Design, a landmark collection now at the National Gallery of Art. Parker contributed to this project during a time when American artists were documenting the nation’s material heritage with extraordinary care. The Index of American Design, begun in 1935 as part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, employed artists to create accurate visual records of American decorative arts, crafts, and everyday objects. These illustrations preserved items from colonial times through the nineteenth century that might otherwise have been lost or overlooked. Parker’s depiction of spectacles exemplifies the project’s dual purpose: providing meaningful work during the Great Depression while celebrating the ingenuity found in ordinary things. Using graphite for structure and watercolor for color and texture, Parker achieved the documentary clarity that defines Index works. The result is both an artistic study and a historical document, inviting viewers to consider how even a simple pair of glasses reflects changing technology, fashion, and daily life in America’s past. Such renderings continue to offer quiet insight into the objects that once surrounded ordinary people.

About the Artist

Cora Parker · 1855–present

Cora Parker (1859–1944) was an American painter and educator born in Kentucky. She studied at the Cincinnati Art School and the Académie Julian in Paris, receiving tutelage from William Merritt Chase. This training shaped her painterly technique of focused brushstrokes that created softened, impressionistic effects. Parker taught oil painting at the University of Kansas in Lawrence from 1887 to 1...