Book Description

Now available again, this stunning volume examines the life and work of Fritz Scholder, the most influential, successful, and controversial Native American artist of the twentieth century. In the 1960s and '70s, the notion of American Indian art was turned on its head by artists who fought against prejudice and popular cliches. 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. This volume features hundreds of works from Scholder's career as a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Essays explore the artist'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 role in the Native American community and the art world. A fascinating figure who fearlessly took on his own contradictions and those of his times, Scholder continues to generate passionate discussion. Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian offers a lively, insightful exploration of his place in twentieth-century American art history as a colourist, expressionist, and figurative painter.