Fritz Scholder

Indian / Not Indian

by Lowery Stokes Sims

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.

OUT OF PRINT. We have one copy available.

192 pp ~ illustrated — ©2008