Dress

Art Historical Context

This watercolor and graphite drawing of a dress by Virginia Berge, created between 1935 and 1942, forms part of the Index of American Design. This New Deal initiative of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project employed artists during the Great Depression to document America’s decorative arts and crafts. The resulting collection created a detailed visual archive of objects spanning the colonial period to the early twentieth century. Berge’s rendering demonstrates the precision demanded by the Index. Watercolor captured accurate hues and textures, while graphite supplied fine co...