Lloyd Charles Lemcke

Lloyd Charles Lemcke was an artist and documentarian active for a concentrated period between 1935 and 1938. His documented output consists of fifteen designs produced for the Index of American Design. This ambitious project, initiated during the American Depression, sought to create a comprehensive visual survey of native American decorative arts, craft, and material culture, emphasizing detailed, factual rendering over personal artistic interpretation.

Lemcke’s contributions focused on meticulously documenting utilitarian objects and regional folk crafts. His studies, often executed in media suitable for archival reproduction, captured the dimensions and physical details of everyday historical items. Works represented in collections include studies such as a Bowl, a Brown Crock, a Caulking Hammer, and a Fish Marker. These works serve as vital historical records, providing museum-quality documentation of American industrial and folk history.

The majority of Lemcke’s known index records are preserved in major institutional holdings, establishing their scholarly importance. The National Gallery of Art holds several of these designs. Due to their origins as federally commissioned records, these original artworks are frequently considered to be in the public domain, making the resulting reproducible images widely available as downloadable artwork and high-quality prints for study and non-commercial purposes.