Waldo Mootzka Rare Original Painting of Tocha Katsina, Hummingbird Kachina [SOLD]

C4655A-paint.jpg

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Waldo Mootzka, Hopi Pueblo Painter
  • Category: Paintings
  • Origin: Hopi Pueblo, Hopituh Shi-nu-mu
  • Medium: watercolor
  • Size:
    8-¼” x 5-⅞” image;
    14-¾” x 11-¾” framed
  • Item # C4655A
  • SOLD

This original watercolor painting was created by early Hopi Pueblo artist Waldo Mootzka. It is an excellent depiction of a Hummingbird Katsina, completed in the traditional style of the early Hopi painters. The painting dates to the 1930s, but remarkably shows no signs of age. The paper is crisp and clean, and the opaque watercolors are bold and bright.

Mootzka and his Hopi contemporaries worked in a style that is similar to that of the New Mexico Pueblo artists. They depicted ceremonial dancers with little or no background or environment around them. Most of the early pueblo painters preferred depicting their subjects in true profile; the Hopi artists seemed to be a bit more fluid with perspective, resulting in works that have an added level of dimension. Here, Mootzka's katsina is turned diagonally, allowing the viewer to see his body and dance regalia in great detail. The colors are wonderful, and the composition is excellent. This is a fine example of early Hopi Pueblo artwork.

Artist signature of Waldo Mootzka, Hopi Pueblo PainterThe painting is signed Mootzka in lower right. It is framed under off-white matting in a simple wood frame.

Waldo Mootzka (1910-1940) was a painter and silversmith from Hopi Pueblo in Arizona. Mootzka received no formal art training and so was self-taught. He often observed Fred Kabotie painting at Oraibi Day School, and it may have been there that he learned or became interested in watercolor painting. So, it's not surprising that Mootzka's work displays Kabotie's influence. In the 1930s, John Louw Nelson employed Mootzka, among others, to create paintings for sale that portrayed Native Americans in their everyday life. Later, in Santa Fe, he was sponsored by Frank Patania, who taught him the art of silversmithing. In 1940, Mootzka was in an automobile accident that exacerbated his tuberculosis, and he died later that year. At the time of his death, Mootzka was devoting almost all his artistic talents to silverwork. Because of his early death at the age of only 30 years and his success as a jeweler, very few paintings by Mootzka are available for collectors to own.

Clara Lee Tanner commented on Mootzka's art in Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art: "The paintings of Mootzka combine artistic quality with true recordings of Indian life. Figures are well drawn, displaying a neat and even fragile quality in outlines. Composition of dance groups is fair. A neat separateness of line-work may be said to characterize Mootzka's painting . . . Subject matter treated by Mootzka is quite varied, despite his ever-Hopi emphasis on kachinas, which he presents singly or in groups . . . What he lacked in matters pertaining to background and perspective, Mootzka compensated for in color and splendid detail. Not only did he employ numerous colored papers for the sake of variety, but also he used a full palette. Although pink seems to have been a featured color, it was well handled . . . Mootzka seems to have been more experimental, particularly with color. There is a great range in his pictures, in color and tone."


Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Waldo Mootzka Rare Original Painting of Tocha Katsina, Hummingbird Kachina is from an East Coast collection

Reference: Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art, Clara Lee Tanner

TAGS: Hopi Pueblo, paintingFred KabotieFrank PataniasilverworkWaldo Mootzka

Alternate close-up view of a section of this painting.

Waldo Mootzka, Hopi Pueblo Painter
  • Category: Paintings
  • Origin: Hopi Pueblo, Hopituh Shi-nu-mu
  • Medium: watercolor
  • Size:
    8-¼” x 5-⅞” image;
    14-¾” x 11-¾” framed
  • Item # C4655A
  • SOLD

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