Index of American Design, ca. 1940
1940
Title: Index of American Design, ca. 1940
Dates: 1940
Collection Number: P-124
Creator/Collector:
Extent: .2 linear feet (Boxes: 1 letter flat)
Repository:
Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Abstract: Photos of paintings of the "Stations of the Cross" made at San Gabriel Mission by Indian neophytes around 1779. See also
GC 1157 Index of American Design
Language of Material: English
Research is by appointment only
Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder
Index of American Design, ca. 1940. Seaver Center for Western History Research, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Biography/Administrative History
The WPA Art Project of Southern California was located at 1845 So. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif. The following information
is cited from the National Gallery of Art website (http://www.nga.gov/collection/iad/index.shtm): The Index of American Design
is a compilation of nearly 18,000 watercolor renderings that depict traditional American arts and crafts made before about
1890. The renderings were created under the auspices of the Index of American Design project, one of several Fine Arts Divisions
in the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which operated from 1935 to 1942. The renderings,
now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, were intended to create a pictorial survey of the rise and development
of American design. They provide an unparalleled record of the material culture of the United States and the effort to document
a unique national style.
The first steps leading to the creation of the Index of American Design were taken in 1935 when Romana Javitz, head of the
New York Public Library Picture Collection, and her colleague, New York artist Ruth Reeves, a textile designer and painter,
developed the concept for a project to create a comprehensive visual resource of traditional American design. In August 1935,
Reeves presented this idea to the national staff of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project in Washington,
D.C. A pilot Index of American Design project was begun in New York City after this initial discussion. The Index was organized
as a nationwide project in December 1935.
Scope and Content of Collection
Photos of paintings of the "Stations of the Cross" made at San Gabriel Mission by Indian neophytes around 1779. See also
GC 1157 Index of American Design