Green Eyed Dog

Stephan W. Polaha, Green Eyed Dog, ca. 1975, carved and painted wood and glass, 13 5⁄8 × 18 7⁄8 × 6 7⁄8 in. (34.6 × 47.9 × 17.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.61

Artwork Details

Title
Green Eyed Dog
Artist
Date
ca. 1975
Location
Dimensions
13 5⁄8 × 18 7⁄8 × 6 7⁄8 in. (34.6 × 47.9 × 17.5 cm)
Credit Line
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
Mediums Description
carved and painted wood and glass
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — dog
Object Number
2016.38.61
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2016.38.61

Artwork Description

Stephan Polaha was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and later moved to Reading, Pennsylvania. He became regionally celebrated for painted woodcarvings of animals. Polaha especially loved dogs and made carvings of them with sweet comical faces, such as this bright-eyed canine, and sometimes gave them angel-like wings, showing the artist’s abiding reverence for these loyal companions.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Works by this artist (3 items)

Stephan W. Polaha, Green Eyed Dog, ca. 1975, carved and painted wood and glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.61
Green Eyed Dog
Artist
Dateca. 1975
carved and painted wood and glass
On view
Stephan W. Polaha, Eagle, ca. 1975, carved and painted wood and glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.62
Eagle
Artist
Dateca. 1975
carved and painted wood and glass
On view
Stephan W. Polaha, Winged Dog, ca. 1975, painted wood, metal, and glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.77
Winged Dog
Artist
Dateca. 1975
painted wood, metal, and glass
On view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.38.43R-V - SAAM-2016.38.43R-V_2 - 126225
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection
July 1, 2022–March 26, 2023
Smithsonian American Art Museum
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection traces the rise of self-taught artists in the twentieth century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial, and gender-based obstacles, their creativity and

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