Felipe Benito Archuleta (1910–1991) was a Hispanic artist who worked mostly in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. Felipe Benito Archuleta grew up poor. He left school at an early age to work as a field hand and later as a stonemason, cook, and for many years a carpenter. His Spanish heritage exposed him to " bulto" making, the shaping of wooden religious figures used in shrines. In 1967, unable to find work, Felipe prayed to God to alleviate his poverty and desperation. His subsequent religious awakening led to his work as a carver of animals. Felipe is best known for his animal sculptures that emphasize the ferocious nature of the animals he portrays by providing them with irregularly carved teeth, wide-eyed stares, and exaggerated snouts and genitals. Felipe Archuleta

Archuleta carved his last major work in the Spring of 1987 due to suffering from arthritis.

References

1910 births 1991 deaths Artists from New Mexico People from Santa Fe County, New Mexico Hispanic and Latino American artists 20th-century American painters American male painters American woodcarvers 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1910s-stub