Zoar "Sleigh" Bed
c. 1938
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 43.9 x 38.2 cm (17 5/16 x 15 1/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 74" long; 38 5/8" wide; 37 1/2" high
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.3858
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the National Gallery of Art's exploration of American design! Fritz Boehmer's *Zoar "Sleigh" Bed* (c. 1938) is a captivating watercolor and graphite rendering on paperboard, measuring 43.9 x 38.2 cm. This detailed depiction captures a full-scale antique bed—74 inches long, ⅝ inches wide, and37½ inches high—from the utopian community of Zoar,, founded in 181 by German separatists seeking religious freedom. Created as part of the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project from the Great Depression era (1935–1942), Boehmer's work preserves vanishing examples of American folk craf...
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...