Mechanical Artillery Bankc. 1940
Alf Bruseth painted this in about 1940. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
The image displays a vintage mechanical bank with a brick-patterned tower on the left and a soldier figure on the right, prepared to operate a cannon. The color scheme is mainly earthy tones including brown, bronze, and hints of gold, creating a retro metallic appearance. The label "ARTILLERY BANK" is engraved on the base in front of the cannon.
Description from the National Gallery of Art.
Alf Bruseth painted this in about 1940. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Opaque watercolour
- Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
- Watercolour
- Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- Graphite
- Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.
Alf Bruseth
American
American folk and design
The everyday art of early America, recorded in watercolour by the Index of American Design.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The National Gallery of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1943.8.8533
- Credit
- Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Type
- Drawing
- Department
- Index of American Design
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
