Water Cooler

Art Historical Context

In the heart of the Index of American Design, "Water Cooler" by John Tarantino (1941 offers a meticulous watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paperboard, measuring 36.5 x 28.8 cm. This vivid depiction captures an everyday American object—a functional water cooler standing 18 inches high with 13-inch top diameter tapering to 10 inches at the base—likely a vessel from rural life, evoking the ingenuity of pre-refrigeration households. Created during the final years of the Federal Art under the Works Progress Administration (PA), part of President Roosevelt's New Deal, the Index (1935–1942) commissioned artists like Tarantino to document folk art and design across the U.S. These precise illustrations preserved cultural artifacts threatened by time and modernity, blending artistic skill with archival accuracy for museums and scholars. Tarantino's technique shines in the layered media: watercolor for luminous color, graphite for fine lines, and colored pencil for subtle highlights, rendering the cooler's form with lifelike texture and proportion. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's collection, this work celebrates America's material heritage, reminding visitors of the quiet beauty in utilitarian design.

About the Artist

John Tarantino · 1855–present

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...