Table 1941

Marie Alain rendered this image of a table with graphite and watercolor, likely during the first half of the 20th century. Alain was an Index of American Design artist, an organization created in the 1930’s as part of the WPA to document American material culture. During this period, when the country was experiencing immense economic hardship, there was an attempt to define what was ‘authentically’ American, often by looking to the past. The Index became a vast archive of folk art and decorative objects. The style of the table, with its curved legs, recalls 18th-century furniture design. It's possible that Alain chose to depict a reproduction rather than an original antique. The goal of the Index was not necessarily to document masterpieces, but instead to capture a broader sense of American design and craft traditions. Alain’s watercolor drawing gives both a material form and a sense of national identity to this everyday object.