Toy Automobile
c. 1938
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and gouache on paper
Dimensions
overall: 22.8 x 30.6 cm (9 x 12 1/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 9" long; 4 1/2" wide
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.15260
Art Historical Context
**Toy Automobile** by Wilbur M. Rice created around 1938, is a rendering from the *Index of American Design*IAD), a landmark WPA Federal Art Project. This watercolor, graphite, and gouache work on paper (22.8 x 30.6 cm) meticulously documents a charming 9-inch-long toy car, 4½ inches wide, reflecting the era's booming automotive culture and playful ingenuity in American toy-making during the Great Depression. Rice, a skilled illustrator for the IAD (1935–1942), employed precise graphite underdrawing for sharp outlines, layered with vibrant gouache and translucent watercolor to evoke the toy's...
About the Artist
Wilbur M Rice
**Wilbur M. Rice (1909–1974)** was an American artist best known for his meticulous contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. Active primarily between 1935 and 1942, Rice produced detailed watercolor, gouache, and graphite renderings of everyday American folk objects, tools, toys, and crafts. Thes...