Dorothy Hood
Warrior's Plumage

Warrior's Plumage

© Estate of Dorothy Hood

Warrior's Plumage
Warrior's Plumage
ArtistAmerican, 1918–2000
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Warrior's Plumage
Date1957
PlaceHouston, Texas, United States
MediumPen and ink on wove paper
DimensionsSheet: 20 × 18 1/2 in. (50.8 × 47 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Eugene Wagner
Object number57.44
Not on view

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DescriptionDorothy Hood first established herself as an artist of note through her
drawings, and Warrior’s Plumage eloquently
demonstrates her confident command of line as both a descriptive and emotional
force. The composition is dominated by an omniscient eye, while Hood’s tautly
flowing calligraphy describes
distant landscapes
and delicate plumes. The title alludes to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec feathered
serpent deity who embodied creation between earth and sky. At the same time,
Hood insisted that her work existed primarily in a space
  “for the purpose of
its psychological and psychic meaning.”









ProvenanceThe artist, Houston; [Duveen-Graham Gallery, New York]; Mrs. Eugene Wagner, Mount Vernon, N.Y.; given to MFAH, 1957.
Exhibition History"Dorothy Hood: Recent Drawings," Duveen-Graham Gallery, New York, April 30–May 18, 1957.

"Dorothy Hood," Capital National Bank, Houston, December 1, 1966–January 2, 1967.

"The Loan Collection for the Vice President's Residence," Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, March 1–March 31, 1979.

"The Avant Old Guard," Cullen Center, Houston, September 19, 1985– January 2, 1986.

"The Color of Being/El Color del Ser: Dorothy Hood, 1918–2000," The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, September 30, 2016–January 8, 2017.

"Kindred Spirits: Louise Nevelson and Dorothy Hood," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 3, 2018–February 3, 2019.

"Around Midcentury in the United States," The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Oct. 28, 2020 – July 27, 2021. [Inaugural Installation: Kinder Building 207: No Catalog]


Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed recto lower left: "D. Hood"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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