"Hopi God of the Sky (Sotuqnang)" 1965 by Michael Kabotie [SOLD]

This painting by Michael Kabotie (1942-2009) Lomawywesa ("Walking in Harmony") was completed in 1965, a few years before he and others formed the Artist Hopid group in 1973. It clearly illustrates that Michael Kabotie was already painting in the future style of the eventual Artist Hopid. This piece, from Kabotie's early professional period, was created when he was roughly 23 years old, just a few years after graduating from Haskell Institute and returning to the Hopi Nation.

The painting features Sotuqnang-u, known as God of the Sky, who is the signified and powerful god of the sky, clouds, and rain. He is rarely impersonated. This painting of the masked god shows him in the sky. He clutches a pair of lightning bolts in one hand and a gourd in the other, from which he is pouring rain. The case mask has a single horn as a high, peaked headdress or hat. There are cloud designs on the cheeks. He is floating among clouds.

The painting demonstrates a transitional bridge between the flatter, two-dimensional traditional Pueblo studio style pioneered by his father, Fred Kabotie, and the bold, dynamic, and avant-garde style Michael would develop in the 1970s as a founding member of the Artist Hopid movement.

About the Artist: Michael Kabotie

Hopi Nation artist Michael Kabotie learned the techniques of silversmithing by hanging around the Hopi Guild workshop founded by his father, Fred Kabotie.  He is known as a painter and jeweler and excelled at both. Throughout his prolific career, his distinctive paintings, overlay jewelry, and large-scale murals earned international acclaim and were featured in major museum collections worldwide. 

Condition: very good condition

Provenance: Displayed in the special exhibit Ancestral Symbols, Modern Masterpieces: Documenting the Sacred Narratives and History of the Hopi People at Adobe Gallery for its 50^th Anniversary Landmark Exhibition in Santa Fe, NM, May – October 2026. This painting by Michael Kabotie "Hopi God of the Sky (Sotuqnang)" 1965 is from the client who purchased it directly from the artist in 1965.

Reference: Broder, Patricia Janis. Hopi Painting: The World of the Hopi, Brandywine Press, New York. 1978

TAGS: Hopi Pueblo, Fred Kabotie, Terrance Talaswaima, Milland Lomakema, Delbridge Honanie, Neil David, Sr., Michael Kabotie