M. Louise Kent

M. Louise Kent was a documentarian and renderer active during the focused period of 1938 to 1939. Kent’s documentation efforts were affiliated with the Index of American Design (IAD), a Federal Art Project established during the Depression era. The IAD aimed to create precise, high-quality visual records of historic American decorative and folk arts, focusing on craftsmanship from the pre-industrial era. Kent’s contributions represent an important part of this national effort to preserve a visual inventory of American design heritage.

Five documentation works by Kent are preserved in museum collections, held specifically in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. These renderings focus on domestic and textile objects, including the detailed studies Pincushion and two distinct renderings titled Sand Shaker. Kent also documented American weaving techniques, represented by the works Hand Woven Coverlet and Handwoven Coverlet.

The historical and visual accuracy inherent in the IAD project ensures that these documents remain important resources for scholars of material culture and design history. As historically accurate and museum-quality documents, many of these renderings are now in the public domain, allowing wide access to M. Louise Kent prints for research and educational purposes.