Product Description

In the 1960s and 70s, the notion of American Indian art was
turned on its head by artists who fought against prejudice and
popular clichés. At the forefront of this revolution was Scholder
(1937 2005), whose portrayals of Native American life
combined realism, tragedy, and spirituality with the genres of
abstract expressionism and pop art. Published to coincide with
an exhibit at the Smithsonian s National Museum of the
American Indian in New York City and Washington, D.C., this
retrospective features hundreds of works from Scholder s
career as a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Essays explore
Scholder s major themes humanity s place in the natural
world, ancient mythical beings, women, Christian iconography,
the millennium, and the afterlife as well as Scholder s decades
of prominence in the art world, his role in the Native American
community, and his myth-shattering depictions of the realities
of Native American life. A fascinating figure who fearlessly
took on his own contradictions and those of his times,
Scholder continues to generate passionate discussion today.
Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian offers a lively, insightful
exploration of his place in twentieth-century American art
history as a colorist, expressionist, and figurative painter.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #702983 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Curator and scholar LOWERY STOKES SIMS has written extensively on artists
of color in the global arena. TRUMAN T. LOWE and PAUL CHAAT SMITH are
curators at the Smithsonian s National Museum of the American Indian.

Customer Reviews

Fritz Scholder, Beautiful Contradiction
Sometime in the 1970's, I saw a televised documentary on Fritz Scholder. In one scene the artist steps into into his studio where he selects a pre-stretched canvas and proceeds to paint in an explosion of creativity. The result was an image of an indian unlike any I had seen before. This was a raw, honest, direct and non-idealized impression of the American indian. It was unavoidably political even as it remained art of the highest order. This left an indelible impression. I have loved Scholder's work ever since.

"Fritz Scholder: Indian Not Indian, "by Lowery Stokes is a superb book. It is beautifully printed. The reproductions are well chosen and appropriate and the essays and commentary by: Kevin Gover, John Haworth, Lowery Stokes Sims, Paul Chaat Smith, Leslie Wasserberger, Richard W. Hill offer a well rounded perspective on the artist and his work.

Fritz Scholder was a man of contradictions with a dark and spiritual side. He was one quarter Luiseno indian, with a predominately German heritage. His father had been a Bureau of Indian Affairs administrator, but Fritz did not grow up on a reservation and for most of his career he did not paint indians or indian themes. Yet he became one of the first instructors at Institute of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I highly recommend to anyone with an interest in Fritz Scholder, painting, American Indians, the southwest and New Mexico.