Grace Bolser

Grace Bolser was an American artist active between 1939 and 1941, working primarily on documentation for the Index of American Design (IAD), a federal arts project established during the Depression era. The IAD aimed to create a systematic, comprehensive visual record of American decorative, folk, and utilitarian arts dating from the colonial period through the end of the nineteenth century.

Bolser contributed six detailed renderings to this extensive archive. These works focused on capturing the form, construction, and ornamentation of historical furniture and household items. The five specifically documented objects represented in collections include a Chest, a Flour Bin, a Cabinet, a China Closet, and a Small Day Bed.

All six of Bolser’s Index of American Designs renderings are permanently held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Because of their origin within the federal program, these detailed visual documents are often available in the public domain, providing researchers with museum-quality resources for studying early American material culture. Grace Bolser prints, along with other works from the IAD, are widely used today as source material for historians and craftspeople.