Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - The Hunter's Story

Preview image of work. pastel on white wove paper, The Hunter's Story 21473

2011.69.14

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The Hunter's Story

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Artist

Rick Bartow (Rick E. Bartow) (Newport, Oregon, 1946 - )

Title

The Hunter's Story

Creation Date

1991

Century

late 20th century

Dimensions

26 3/16 in. x 39 15/16 in. (66.5 cm x 101.5 cm)

Object Type

drawing

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

pastel on white wove paper

Credit Line

Bequest of David P. Becker, Class of 1970

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2011.69.14

“In the end, I cannot say that it is any one source,” Rick Bartow explained about the origins of this drawing. “It might be the result of a collision of myths, dreams, prayers, and my own life.” An enrolled member of the Mad River Wiyot Tribe and a lifelong Oregonian, Bartow created this work to explore ideas about death. The scene, derived in part from Indigenous mythology, depicts the journey of a hunter in a canoe. In this work, the boundary between the spiritual and physical worlds are blurred, and an assortment of symbols are introduced, including a staircase that he has explained conveys one to their “final resting place.” A veteran of the Vietnam War, Bartow often grappled with the theme of mortality in his art.