Female Navajo Figure

Charlie Willeto, Female Navajo Figure, ca. 1962-1964, carved and painted wood, 66 ¹⁄₂ x 16 ¹⁄₄ x 14 ¹⁄₄ in. (169.0 x 41.3 x 36.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.385

Artwork Details

Title: Female Navajo Figure
Artist: Charlie Willeto
Date: ca. 1962-1964
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
1st Floor
/
West Wing
Dimensions: 66 ¹⁄₂ x 16 ¹⁄₄ x 14 ¹⁄₄ in. (169.0 x 41.3 x 36.2 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums: cottonwood
iron
nails
Mediums Description: carved and painted wood
Classifications: Sculpture
Highlights: Folk and Self-Taught Art
Subjects: Indian — Navajo
Figure female — full length
Object Number: 1986.65.385
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.385

Artwork Description

Charlie Willeto was born in Diné Bikéyah, the homeland of the Diné, or Navajo, and was trained as a tribal healer or medicine man. His carvings were all done in the last few years of his life. They began as elements of a healing ritual, which used doll-like carvings to carry illness away from the afflicted. By making his figures, Willeto challenged a tribal taboo against figural representation in art, but he eventually earned his reputation as a powerful healer and bringer of change. This pair is Willeto’s sole example of life-sized figures; most of his carvings are under thirty inches tall.