Wine Jug
probably 1939
Medium
watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, gouache, andpen and ink
Dimensions
overall: 44.2 x 31.9 cm (17 3/8 x 12 9/16 in.) Original IAD Object: Rendered 2/3 original size.
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.7398
Art Historical Context
**Wine Jug**, a meticulous rendering by Fritz Boehmer around 1939, captures essence of an everyday American artifact through the lens of the Index of American Design (IAD This ambitious WPA-era project (1935–1942), part of President Roosevelt's New Deal, employed artists to document the nation's folk art and decorative objects in vibrant, precise detail. Boehmer's work, scaled to two-thirds the original jug's (44.2 x 31.9 cm), exemplifies the IAD's mission to preserve cultural heritage amid the Great Depression, highlighting humble items like this wine jug as symbols of American craftsmanship....
About the Artist
Fritz Boehmer
Fritz Boehmer (1875–1942) was a Czech-born American painter whose career bridged personal portraiture and public documentation of folk art traditions. Little is known about his early life or formal training, which remains sparsely documented; however, by 1895, he was producing intimate portraits, such as *Gertrud Boehmer* at the Toledo Museum of Art, suggesting skill in miniature and figure work h...