WVAM Logo
Home ׀  Visit   ׀ Collection ׀  Exhibitions ׀  Events  ׀  Activities  ׀  Museum Store  ׀  Cafe  ׀  Get Involved
FRITZ SCHOLDER

Fritz Scholder was born in Breckenridge, Missouri. His paternal grandmother was a member of the Luiseño tribe of Mission Indians. Although Scholder did not consider himself an Indian, he is considered by many to be a leader of the New American Indian Art movement.

Throughout his childhood, the painter's family moved frequently, living mostly in small towns in the Dakotas and Wisconsin. In the long winter evenings, young Fritz amused himself by drawing, an interest that was soon channeled into serious art study.

The painter Oscar Howe, a Sioux Indian, introduced him to modern art while he was still in high school. In 1957, the family settled in Sacramento, where Scholder earned a BA degree at Sacramento State University. After graduation, he taught public school in Sacramento. While in California he also studied under Francis Bacon. In 1961, he won a scholarship to the Southwest Indian Art Project at the University of Arizona, where he earned a Master's of Fine Arts degree. Early in his career, Scholder received support from the Rockefeller, Whitney and Ford Foundations.

After five years in Santa Fe, he retired from teaching to paint full-time.  He added sculpture and printmaking to his activities, creating mixed media constructions, bronzes, lithographs, etchings and monotypes. From the beginning, he created works in series: women, landscapes, Indians, etc.

Over a dozen books have been published on Fritz Scholder and his work, and he has been profiled in two documentaries for public television.  In a single year, exhibitions of his work were seen in Japan, France, China, Germany and at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.  For many years, he maintained his primary residence in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Fritz Scholder died in 2005 at the age of 67.

Click on the images below to view the full size image...

"Iris" Fritz Scholder lithograph "Bird Of Paradise", Fritz Scholder lithograph

 

"Dog" Fritz Scholder lithograph

 

"Shaman" Fritz Scholder lithograph

 

red-spacerEthnographic Artifacts
red-spacerJohn Dawson
red-spacerDorothy Knop

red-spacerGeorge Resler
red-spacerFine Art Prints
red-spacerElaine Rothwell
red-spacerFritz Scholder
red-spacerArthur Secunda
red-spacerJapanese Woodcuts

red-spacerEthnic Dress Collection

Home ׀  Visit   ׀ Collection ׀  Exhibitions ׀  Events  ׀  Activities  ׀  Museum Store  ׀  Cafe  ׀  Get Involved
© 2008 West Valley Art Museum. All rights reserved - Comments or Questions? - Contact Us