Buffalo Bill Center of the West

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Buffalo Bill Center of the West

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  • Visit
    • Current HoursDecember 1–February 29: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday–Sunday
    • Hours & RatesPlan your visit to the Center of the West.
    • Group SalesWe welcome commercial group and bus tours.
    • Facility RentalsThe Center is the perfect place for your next event.
    • Visiting YellowstoneYour best stop on the way to or from Yellowstone.
    • LodgingSelect from a variety of local accommodations.
    • ItinerariesDiscover some quick day trips in and around Cody.
    • DirectionsFind driving directions and check road conditions.
    • StoriesFind your story among ours.
    • Calendar of EventsSee what events are happening during your visit here.
  • Explore
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  • Learn
    • School Programs & ResourcesEssential info and resources for teachers and students.
    • Family ProgramsFamily-friendly programs, activities, and craft ideas.
    • InternshipsCollege students may apply to gain museum experience.
    • Skype in the ClassroomLive, interactive K–12 field trips.
    • WorkshopsExplore hands-on programs for kids, families, and adults.
    • Conservation InternshipsTraining for conservators from all over the world.
    • Pre-K ProgramsSet up a guided tour for your preschool class.
    • Field TripsInvestigate outdoor adventures for adults and children.
    • Highlights MapsDiscover collection highlights in each of our museum.
    • Games and InteractivesLearn about the collection through online interactives.
    • Lectures & FilmsPlan for future talks and view past program videos.
    • Western EssaysDelve into historical information on western topics.
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Clothing and Accessories
    • Gifts
    • Native American Replicas
    • Fine Art
    • Quality Leather
    • Native American Jewelry
    • Navajo Rugs
    • Pottery
    • Prints
    • Media
    • Baskets
  • Research
    • McCracken Research LibraryFind books, photos, archives, media, and more.Buffalo Bill Center of the West
    • Digital CollectionsExplore our extensive photo and manuscript collections.
    • Archival Collection List and Finding GuidesBrowse inventories of archival collections.
    • The Papers of William F. CodyDiscover scholarship on the man and the myth.
    • Fellowship ProgramContribute to new scholarship using Center collections.
    • Buffalo BillUncover in-depth information about William F. Cody.
    • Greater Yellowstone Natural HistoryLearn more about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
    • Western ArtDelve into the lives and works of western artists.
    • Plains IndianDiscover more about Plains Indian tribes and collections.
    • FirearmsFind a firearms bibliography, glossary, and more.
    • ConservationFind out how we preserve Center collections.
    • Rights and ReproductionsLicense or reproduce images from our collections.
  • Support
    • Planned GivingLeave your legacy with a bequest or estate gift.
    • Patrons BallAttend our annual gala fundraiser.
    • MembershipBecome a supporter and receive great benefits.
    • VolunteerSupport the Center with your time and talent.
    • Our next raffle car: a 1967 Pontiac GTOBuy your tickets online for this amazing prize!
    • Give TodayMake a donation to programs and operations.
    • Why I SupportSee what motivates donors to give to the Center.
    • We have a winner for the car raffle for 2019Winner: from Lusk, Wyoming, with ticket #0553
    • Raptor ExperienceHelp provide care for our avian friends.
  • Fritz Scholder's 'Indian with Tomahawk,' 15.77
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Home > Explore > Whitney Western Art Museum > Research > Fritz Scholder

Fritz Scholder

'Aspen Summer' by Fritz Scholder. 25.91.2

Fritz Scholder (1937 – 2005). “Aspen Summer,” 1977. Gift of Jack and Carol O’Grady. 25.91.2

Fritz Scholder

1937 – 2005

Fritz Scholder, Luiseño, was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota, on October 6, 1937. His long and prolific career includes that of painter, sculptor, lithographer, teacher, mentor, and bookmaker. The style of Abstract Expressionism inspired his use of strong images and color. The style of Pop Art inspired his ideas of clichés and interest in popular culture.

Scholder’s early awareness of art included his high school association with Indian artist Oscar Howe in Pierre, South Dakota, who had been exposed to contemporary art in Paris during World War II. Fate, as well, brought him to study at Sacramento City College in 1957, where Abstract Expressionism ran rampant in California and was a natural visual style for Scholder. He was granted a full scholarship to the Southwestern Indian Art Project at the University of Arizona in 1960, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

'Half Breed' by Fritz Scholder. 25.91.1

Fritz Scholder. “Half Breed,” 1974. Gift of Jack and Carol O’Grady. 25.91.1

In 1965, Scholder found his own students at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe to be angry and alienated, as disenfranchised members of American society. Using Pop Art ideas, he attempted to break the long-held Indian clichés. Fritz Scholder can be discussed as a Postmodernist for his use of “mass-culture social commentary.” He sought to “deconstruct” more than a century of romantic images of Native Americans and approach the American Indian in real terms. In 1970, Scholder began a collaboration with Tamarind Institute to produce lithographs of his Indians.

'Indian with Tomahawk' by Fritz Scholder. 15.77

Fritz Scholder. “Indian With Tomahawk,” 1970. William E. Weiss Contemporary Art Fund. 15.77

Scholder’s work can be appreciated as being simultaneously Indian, American, and twentieth-century art. He has acknowledged his consciousness of Goya, Matisse, Picasso, and Munch. His work is also a complicated blend influenced by modern styles such as those of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Francis Bacon, and Wayne Thiebaud.

The human figure has been a central and continuing image for Scholder, mostly in the form of the female model in a range of poses and degrees of realism. His recent work contains mysterious forms of shaman figures and allegorical emblems. As well as extending his subject matter, he has continued to expand his technical capacities, most notably into the field of monotypes.

Scholder died on February 10, 2005, at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

[VirtualGallery id=”84-hvqdfxo6″ slides=”4″ title=”1″]

Select Bibliography

Adams, Clinton. Fritz Scholder Lithographs. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1975.

Archuleta, Margaret and Dr. Rennard Strickland. Shared Visions: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the Twentieth Century. Phoenix: The Heard Museum, 1991.

Broder, Patricia Janis. Leading The West, The Modern Vision. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1984.

Wilmerding, John, Jeremy Strick, and Richard Newlin. Fritz Scholder, Paintings and Monotypes. Twin Palms Publishers, 1988.

Prepared by Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Buffalo Bill [Center of the West], Cody, Wyoming, April 20, 2001.

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