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Sensations of a Falling Snow Bunny (1959)

Oil on masonite, 24" x 30", signed lower right, signed, dated, titled verso.

A realist and early modernist painter, graphic artist, illustrator, and sculptor, Will Shuster became known primarily for his work in New Mexico where, in 1920, he settled in Santa Fe. John Sloan had encouraged his visit to the state. Shuster was a student of Sloan's in Santa Fe in both etching and painting.

In 1921 Shuster became one of the founding members of Los Cinco Pintores, artists who responded to the New Mexico environment including the Penitentes in a respectful way and modernist, abstract style. Later he became more realist in style. He also illustrated a frontier biography, "My Life on the Frontier," by Governor M.A. Otero. Shuster is especially recognized for his 1926 invention of the enormous effigy puppet, Zozobra (Old Man Gloom), which is burned each year at Santa Fe's annual Fiesta.