Navajo Carving of Figure with Triangle on Head by Charlie Willeto [SOLD]

This Navajo painted wood carving was created by Diné folk artist Charlie Willeto.  The figure is tall, slim, and symmetrical; its arms are raised above its head.  Atop its head is a triangular shape which may represent a feather or some other sort of Native American headpiece.  Willeto paid particular attention to the figure’s face, carving a nose and mouth and adding eyes and eyebrows in pencil.  The figure’s coloration—white and green, nothing else, most likely completed with house paints—is bold and beautiful. Vertical lines of color extend down its long body, diverting from the center as they cross its chest.  Their diversion creates a round open area, which is filled in with a white-rimmed green circle.

Willeto painted a variety of shapes down the figure’s sides.  Ovals, triangles, and zigzagging lines cover the majority of each side.  They’re loose, unrestrained, and energetic. The figure’s back side features the same colors, with two green lines crossing over each other, creating diamonds over a white background.  The piece was professionally mounted on a black base, allowing it to stand freely. Around its neck is a piece of string, which suggests that at some point it hung from a wall in the manner of a traditional Hope katsina doll. 

Charlie Willeto (1897-1964) was a Diné artist who was unrecognized during his lifetime but has, in recent years, received a great deal of acclaim for his folk art carvings.  Willeto’s father Pablo Walito was a Diné medicine man; his mother Adzaan Tsosie “Slender Woman” was a medicine woman. Willeto followed into his parents’ profession, and also married a woman who was born into the traditional Diné healing arts. In 1961, Willeto began creating the carvings for which he is celebrated today.  The carvings ranged in size from a few inches tall to nearly life-size, with the majority standing between one and three feet. Willeto is believed to have completed about 400 carvings in total. Today, his works are included in prominent public and private collections, including the Smithsonian and the Museum of International Folk Art.

Condition: this Navajo Carving of Figure with Triangle on Head by Charlie Willeto is in excellent condition

Provenance: private collection

Recommended Reading: Collective Willeto: The Visionary Carvings of a Navajo Artist, Museum of New Mexico Press

Relative Links: Navajo Nation - Diné, Charlie Willeto