Exotic animals retain their fascination, even though the first U.S. zoo opened in Philadelphia 128 years ago today.
Of course, the animal kingdom inspired folk artist Felipe Archuleta, maker of today's Tiger.
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Lions and Tigers and Bears ... Oh My!
Exotic animals retain their fascination, even though the first U.S. zoo opened in Philadelphia 128 years ago today.
Of course, the animal kingdom inspired folk artist Felipe Archuleta, maker of today's Tiger.
In 1964, when he was in his fifties, Archuleta found himself without work, money, or hope. He prayed for God to give him a skill to help change his life. His answer was a call to carve animals. He began making small images of creatures he saw near his New Mexico home, and then turned to children's books and popular magazines for pictures of exotic animals. The wary glance and casual stride of Tiger show how deftly Archuleta transformed photographs into expressive three-dimensional forms.
Tiger is among seventy artworks prowling our online exhibition Contemporary Folk Art: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Source: Lynda Hartigan. Contemporary Folk Art: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1999).
Pictured: Felipe Archuleta, 1910–1991, Tiger, 1977, painted cottonwood with marbles, 35 1/2 x 62 3/4 x 19 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of David L. Davies.