Original Painting of Muzribi (Bean) 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 the Muzribi or Bean Katsina is illustrated in a more formal or static style rather that in a dancing position as later portrayed by other artists.  As most artists of his genre, Mootzka concentrated on the Hopi Pueblo 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.

What appears to be dirt or smudge on the background paper is actually paint added by the artist, perhaps to soften the solid background color.  The painting is signed Mootzka in lower right and is framed in a vintage frame.  On the back of the painting, is the following: Waldo Mootzka (1910-1940) Oraibi, AZ Hopi Artist Gouache/paper. 

Condition:  appears to be in original condition but has not been examined out of the frame.

Provenance: from a gentleman in Albuquerque

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