Crow Hop IV

2014

Native American, Wiyot, 1946 - 2016

Rick Bartow was one of our nation’s most significant Native American artists. He brought a fiery passion to his work that was both intensely personal and reflective of his Wiyot heritage. The imagery of his pastel drawings, acrylic paintings, wood sculptures, and etchings reveals a profound symbiosis between humans and animals, often depicting them in metamorphosis. In this painting, Crow is dancing in what Bartow calls “jump and center,” referring to the moment in a ceremony when a dancer steps into the center and away from the group circle and dances alone. The Wiyot people have recently revived their World Renewal Ceremony, an annual ancient rite “to heal the earth and set the world right.”

Acrylic and graphite on canvas

Height: 72 x 96 in. (182.9 x 243.8 cm)

Mounted: 78 1/8 x 100 7/8 x 1 3/8 in. (198.4 x 256.2 x 3.5 cm)

Ancient and Native American Art Acquisition Fund

2015.16

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryEugene, Oregon, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Rick Bartow: Things You Know but Cannot Explain, Apr. 18 - Aug. 9, 2015 (Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gilcrease Museum, Jan. - June 2016).* No cat. no. Reproduced p. 72. [*Exhibition also traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Aug. 14 - Dec. 31, 2016; Phoenix, Arizoma, Heard Museum, Apr. 8 - July 9, 2017; Pullman, Washington, Washington State University Art Museum, Sept. 29 - Dec. 16, 2017; Los Angeles, California, Autry Museum, Mar. - Dec. 2018, but shown only at Schnitzer and Gilcrease venues.]

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, YOU ARE ON INDIGENOUS LAND: places/displaces, Apr. 6, 2019 - June 28, 2020 [on view Dec. 6, 2019 - June 28, 2020].

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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