Toy Warship
1935/1942
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 40.7 x 30.6 cm (16 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
1943.8.13006
Art Historical Context
**Toy Warship** by Frances Lichten, created between 1935 and1942, captures the whimsical charm of an American folk art toy in watercolor and graphite on paper. 40.7 x 30.6 cm, this rendering showcases Lichten's meticulous hand, blending soft washes of color with precise graphite lines to evoke the toy's wooden form, sails, and nautical details. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Index of American Design collection, invites visitors to appreciate the everyday creativity of American craftsmanship. As part of the Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the G...
About the Artist
Frances Lichten
Frances Lichten was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, in 1889. At fourteen she enrolled in the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, where she studied design and interior decoration, while also pursuing landscape painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating she worked as a commercial artist for nearly a decade, building the technical foundation that would later serve...