RARE Hopi Original Painting of a Sipikne Katsina [SOLD]

Many promising Native American artists' lives were cut short by medical reasons or accidents.  Quincy Tahoma passed away at age 39, Gerald Nailor at age 35 and Waldo Mootzka at age 30.  There were others as well.  Mootzka was in an automobile accident that exacerbated his tuberculosis and took his life within a year. 

Clara Lee Tanner spoke highly of the talent of Mootzka: "The paintings of Mootzka combine artistic quality with true recordings of Indian life.  Figures are well drawn, displaying a neat and even fragile quality in outlines.  Composition of dance groups is fair.  A neat separateness of line-work may be said to characterize Mootzka's paintings.  Subject matter treated by Mootzka is quite varied, despite his ever-Hopi emphasis on kachinas, which he presents singly or in groups."

This painting of a Sipikne Katsina with one leg raised to indicate dance motion is presented in somewhat a formal style relating to the seriousness of the katsina.  As most artists of his genre, Mootzka concentrated on the katsina figure and featured no background or ground plane.  He used good color and detail.  Mootzka experimented with color and seemed to like the use of vivid colors.

Condition: appears to be in original condition but has not been examined out of the frame.  A framer's label on verso states acid-neutral materials were used in framing.

Provenance:  from a collector of Native paintings from Arizona.

Recommended Reading: Southwest Indian Painting a Changing Art by Clara Lee Tanner