Rabbit Hunter

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

Artwork Details

Title: Rabbit Hunter
Artist: Johnson Antonio
Date: 1986
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
Luce Foundation Center
/
3rd Floor
/
27A
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: cottonwood
pencil
watercolor
Mediums Description: watercolor and pencil on carved cottonwood
Classifications: Sculpture
Subjects: Indian
Occupation — hunter
Figure male — full length
Object — game — rabbit
Object Number: 1997.124.44
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/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.