Cup
c. 1937
Medium
watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink, on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 30.2 x 23.5 cm (11 7/8 x 9 1/4 in.) Original IAD Object: 3 3/16" High 3 3/8" Mouth
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.7235
Art Historical Context
This precise rendering of a simple cup, created around 1937 by Joseph Sudek, belongs to the Index of American Design. Produced with watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink on paperboard, the work measures about 12 by 9 inches and documents a modest vessel just over three inches high. These illustrations formed part of a New Deal initiative under the Federal Art Project, which hired artists during the Great Depression to record America’s decorative arts and folk crafts. The Index aimed to create a lasting visual archive of objects made in the United States from colonial times through the ninetee...
About the Artist
Joseph Sudek
Josef Sudek (1896–1976) was a Czech photographer widely regarded as one of the greatest photographers of the twentieth century, known for his poetic, intimate images of Prague and his mastery of light. Born in Kolín, Bohemia, he lost his right arm during World War I and turned to photography during his convalescence, studying at the State School of Graphic Arts in Prague from 1922 to 1924. Sudek ...