Original Painting of a Hopi Lenang Katsina by Waldo Mootzka [SOLD]

According to Dockstader in Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership (1977) “Mootzka was especially noted for his representations of tribal ceremonies and mythological scenes. Using a full palette, he demonstrated a great feeling for color. Also notable was his attention to fine detail.”

Jeanne Snodgrass stated that “Mootzka had no formal art training. He often observed Fred Kabotie (q.v.) painting at Oraibi Day School, and it may have been there that he learned the technique of watercolor painting. Later, in Santa Fe, he was sponsored by Frank Patania, who taught him silversmithing. At the time of his death, Mootzka was devoting almost all his artistic talents to silverwork.”

It is for both of these reasons—his fine artistic talents and his devotion to making jewelry more than to paintings—that Mootzka’s paintings are rare and most desirable of early Hopi art. His work has often been compared to the quality of Fred Kabotie and rightfully so. The fact that he died at the young age of 30 years is most regrettable because we would most probably have seen more of his paintings from his later years. As it is, there are a very limited number available and most of them were painted in a single 10-year period.

This small painting of a single Hopi Flute Katsina is exquisite and in absolutely wonderful condition. It is signed in lower right MOOTZKA and dates to circa 1930. It has just been framed using all acid-free materials and a nice gold-colored wood frame. It is a wonderful companion to another Mootzka small painting that is our Item Number 25397.