Weather Vane Finial
c. 1937
Medium
graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 28.9 x 21.4 cm (11 3/8 x 8 7/16 in.) Original IAD Object: 18 3/4" long; 22 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
1943.8.16148
Art Historical Context
Helen Hobart's *Weather Vane Finial (c. 1937), rendered in meticulous graphite on paperboard, the whimsical charm of an American folk art object from the National Gallery of Art's Index of American Design collection. Measuring 28.9 x 21.4 cm, this drawing documents a finial—the decorative top of a weather vaneoriginally 18¾ inches long and 22½ inches high. Weather vanes, perched atop barns and homes, served both practical and artistic purposes, spinning to show wind direction while showcasing local craftsmanship through carved figures like roosters, ships, or arrows. Created during the Great ...
About the Artist
Helen Hobart
Helen Hobart is an artist about whom the historical record offers limited documentation. Her nationality, dates of birth and death, and formal training have not been firmly established in the sources currently available to scholars, making a detailed account of her life and career difficult to provide with confidence. The works attributed to Hobart indicate an artist with evident technical skill ...