Johnson Antonio, Rabbit Hunter, 1986, watercolor and pencil on carved cottonwood, 21 1⁄2 x 7 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 in. (54.6 x 19.7 x 13.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.44
Copied
Artwork Details
- Title
- Rabbit Hunter
- Artist
- Date
- 1986
- Location
- Dimensions
- 21 1⁄2 x 7 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 in. (54.6 x 19.7 x 13.3 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- watercolor and pencil on carved cottonwood
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Indian
- Occupation — hunter
- Figure male — full length
- Object — game — rabbit
- Object Number
- 1997.124.44
Artwork Description
Johnson Antonio carves Navajo figures from cottonwood, using an axe to form a rough shape, and a pocketknife to create the detail. He paints the surface with house paint, watercolors, and dleesh, a fragile white clay used by the Navajos to paint their bodies, and sometimes adds real animal hair or horns (Chuck and Jan Rosenak, Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia, 1990). In Navajo Woman and Rabbit Hunter the rough surfaces reflect the harshness of survival on the slopes of New Mexico's Bisti hills.