Sugar Bowl
c. 1936
Medium
watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, and gouache on paper
Dimensions
overall: 30.2 x 22.3 cm (11 7/8 x 8 3/4 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.10580
Art Historical Context
Behold the delicate rendering of a *Sugar Bowl* by John Tarantino, created around 1936 as part of the Index of American Design. This WPA Federal Art Project, launched during the Great Depression, commissioned artists across the U.S. to document everyday American objects—from folk art to decorative crafts—preserving the nation's cultural heritage through precise, colorful illustrations. Tarantino's contribution captures the humble elegance of a sugar bowl, likely an artifact of early American craftsmanship, highlighting the ingenuity of colonial or early republican domestic wares. Crafted on p...
About the Artist
John Tarantino
John Tarantino was an American artist active from around 1935 to 1953, 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 precise renderings of everyday folk art objects, preserving the nation's vernacular design heritage a...