Andiron

Art Historical Context

This delicate rendering of an andiron captures a humble yet essential object from America’s domestic past. Created around 1953 by Hans Korsch as part of the Index of American Design, the work records a 24-inch-tall fireplace support in precise detail. The Index, a nationwide project of the 1930s and 1940s, employed skilled artists to document early American crafts and furnishings before they disappeared, producing thousands of such watercolors now preserved at the National Gallery of Art. Korsch’s technique combines graphite for crisp outlines with luminous watercolor washes, allowing both st...

About the Artist

Hans Korsch

Hans Korsch was an American artist active during the mid-20th century, primarily around 1935 to the early 1950s, best known for his contributions to the Index of American Design, a Federal Art Project initiative under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This ambitious New Deal program employed artists to document everyday American folk art and design objects through precise watercolor renderi...