DepartmentTextiles-Hispano US

Shorty

NameDrawing; Paño

CultureHispano

Date1991

Place madeSanta Fe, New Mexico, United States, North America

MediumCotton, colored pencils and ink

Dimensions15 15/16 × 15 3/16 in. (40.5 × 38.5 cm)

Credit LineMuseum of International Folk Art, Museum Purchase from the Collection of Rudy Padilla, A.2022.41.10

Object numberA.2022.41.10

ProvenancePaños, or hand drawn works on handkerchiefs, particularly done in penitentiaries/prisons to give to loved ones. This collection was purchased with MNMF funds on June 20th, 1996, by Mariah Sacoman, previous Curator of Contemporary Hispanic Folk Art for the exhibition, “Paño Art from the `Inside’ Out” from July 21, 1996 - January 7, 1997, in the Hispanic Heritage Wing Changing Gallery. Rudy Padilla was a well-known paño and prison art collector, of which most of his collection was recently acquired by the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.

DescriptionDrawing on square handkerchief. Handkerchief has thick and thin bars of brown that run parallel to the edges, which cross at the corners and that leave an empty space in the center. In the center are the images of a man and a mailbox. The man has large mustache and is wearing a pink bandana, with a letter in one hand and a walking stick in the other. The man is shorter than the mailbox and is reaching up in order to put a letter in the box. Around the mailbox are small clumps of green grass.