Winding Wheel
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 29.8 x 22 cm (11 3/4 x 8 11/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 38 3/4" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.14844
Art Historical Context
**Winding Wheel** by Florence Truelson, around 1937, captures the simplicity of a traditional American folk craft tool used for winding yarn or thread. Rendered in watercolor and graphite paper (29.8 x 22 cm), this precise depiction highlights the object's functional beauty, standing originally about 38 3/4 inches high. Truelson, a skilled illustrator, brings to life the smooth curves of the wheel and spindle, evoking the handmade ingenuity of rural American life. This artwork is part of the *Index of American Design* (IAD), a landmark WPA Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1942. During the Gre...
About the Artist
Florence Truelson
Florence Truelson is an artist whose biographical details remain largely undocumented in the major art historical sources. No confirmed dates of birth or death have been established, and her nationality, training, and primary working period are not reliably recorded in available scholarship. Works attributed to Truelson suggest a practiced hand and an awareness of the artistic conventions of her ...