Drawing on America`s Past

This beautifully illustrated book commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of the National Gallery of Art`s acquisition of the Index of American Design. Widely regarded as one of the New Deal`s most important art projects, the Index was commissioned in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration. Its aim was to compile and eventually publish a visual archive of decorative, folk, and popular arts made in America from the colonial period to about 1900. Some 400 artists involved in the project created precise watercolor drawings of the almost 18, 000 objects in the Index. The book presents 82 of the finest watercolor renderings along with a selection of about 40 of the artifacts they represent. The original objects range from quilts, weather vanes, and hand-carved toys to carousel animals, stoneware, and cigar-store figures. Three essays explore the history, operation, and ambitions of the Index of American Design, examine folk art collecting in America during the early decades of the twentieth century, and consider the Index`s role in the search for a national cultural identity in the early twentieth-century United States. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.