Magnificent acrylic painting on canvas of Hopi kachinas by well-listed Zuni Pueblo-Hopi artist Duane Dishta. Painting is in excellent condition. Frame is in good condition with wear commensurate with age. Painted in 2004. Signed lower right. Signed again by artist on reverse. Comes with envelope containing info on the artist and his business card. This is an exceptional example of his work: painted at the height of his career when his work had achieved a level of elegant refinement and detailed realism.

Frame: 12.5”w x 15.5”h

Art: 8.5” x 11.5”

Hopi katsina figures (Hopi language: tithu or katsintithu), also known as kachina dolls, are figures carved, typically from cottonwood root, by Hopi people to instruct young girls and new brides about katsinas or katsinam, the immortal beings that bring rain, control other aspects of the natural world and society, and act as messengers between humans and the spirit world. These figures are still made and used within the Hopi community, while other katsina figures are carved and sold as artworks to the public. Other Pueblo peoples and later Navajo sculptors carve figures similar to katsina tihu as artworks.

Zuni Pueblo artist Duane Dishta (1946 -2011)

Duane Dishta was born in Zuni, New Mexico in 1946, and always lived there. Duane's father, Frankie, is Zuni and his mother, Elizabeth is three-quarter Zuni and one-quarter Hopi. Duane and his wife, Margie, had relatives in Polacca, Arizona on the Hopi reservation, where they often attended Hopi dances. Duane also took part in the Zuni ceremonies every year. He was originally inspired to paint by the work of two Hopi painters, Raymond Naha & Neil David. As a consequence, his paintings always reflect Hopi and Zuni life.

Dishta has won ribbons at Gallup Ceremonial, the Heard Museum show, Scottsdale, Sedona and many other exhibitions throughout the southwest. Though his original works were in tempera, he moved on to acrylic paints. Probably remembering some early creations, he started experimenting with raised surfaces, a distinctive element in his work. Using wood for vigas and modeling paste applied with a palette knife for texture, Duane builds up background buildings as a setting for his Katsinas. Over the years his draftsmanship has become highly refined and his figures very realistic.

Duane may be best remembered for his paintings, but he is also one of the most distinctive and talented katsina doll carvers to come out of Zuni.

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