Wooden Indian

Art Historical Context

**Wooden Indian** by Robert W.R. Taylor created around 1940, captures the vibrant essence of a classic American folk art icon: the carved wooden figure of a Native American chief, long a staple outside tobacco shops. This detailed rendering belongs to the *Index of American Design*, groundbreaking Works Progress Administration (WPA project from the 1930s that employed artists during the Great Depression to document American crafts and designs. Taylor's work preserves these cultural artifacts through meticulous precision, highlighting their role in 19th-century commercial life. Executed in wat...

About the Artist

Robert W.R. Taylor

Robert W.R. Taylor was an American artist active in the mid-twentieth century who contributed significantly to the Index of American Design, the Works Progress Administration project that employed artists to document American folk art and decorative culture through exacting watercolor renderings. The National Gallery of Art, which received the Index collection in 1943, holds seventy-one works by T...