Accupuncture Spear Style —Manhunter's [sic]

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Self-taught artist “Uncle Jack” Dey typically placed his narrative subjects in outdoor settings. Many of these were snow scenes, influenced by two years the artist spent logging and hunting in rural Maine. Dey used stencils to outline his animals—the placid rabbits and circling crows appear in other compositions by the artist—and the horizon line screened by a row of trees also recurs. In this humorously portrayed battle of the sexes, the snow-covered branches and ground emphasize the plight of the lone male figure pursued by seven women armed with spears. Dey’s fanciful composition may allude to the skirmish between Hercules and the Amazons in classical mythology. The artist often used acupuncture in the title of works that depicted figures being wounded, rather than in its usual context of healing.

Keywords

Folk Art
Birds
Mythology
Trees
Winter
Landscapes
United States
Painting
Rabbits
Snow
Humor
Battle