Alice Cosgrove

Alice Cosgrove was a documentary artist active primarily between 1935 and 1942, specializing in the detailed inventorying of American material culture and decorative arts. Their work is represented by twelve index designs, strongly suggesting involvement with the Federal Art Project efforts of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) dedicated to documenting functional design and folk art traditions across the United States.

The works held in museum collections reflect a wide scope, capturing both industrial design and domestic textiles. Specific documented pieces include designs for the Ale Schooner and Toaster, alongside patterns for domestic crafts such as Printed Cotton, Quilt, and Hooked Rug. These comprehensive Alice Cosgrove prints and drawings provide invaluable visual records of early twentieth-century American design history.

A core selection of Cosgrove’s output is preserved in the collections of the National Gallery of Art, establishing the institutional credibility of the index designs. Given their origin as government-sponsored documentation, much of this imagery has subsequently entered the public domain, allowing for the widespread availability of high-quality prints for researchers, historians, and educators.