Fritz Scholder “American Warrior” Stone Lithograph [SOLD]

“American Warrior” is a color lithograph by Fritz Scholder, a famous and influential Luiseño painter. The piece was created in 1981 at Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This dates it to about a decade after Scholder began his exploration of lithography, also at Tamarind, which had been established in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico. Tamarind is still operational today, training future master printers and hosting artists from around the world.

Scholder’s experience and confidence are evident in this image, which makes use of multiple colors to form a strong, mysterious figure. A gray tone forms a background, with a horizontal break allowing the white paper to show through. Above the break, gray combines with red to form a chaotic smear of purple, which occasionally ventures down into the gray block below. The warrior appears in black, bright green, and blood red, emerging dramatically from his more muted surroundings. Sharp horns, a shield, and a broad-shouldered form signify strength; the rest is left to the viewer’s imagination.

The print is numbered “94/100” in lower left and signed Scholder in lower right. Scholder’s chop mark appears in the center, and the printer’s chop mark appears on the right. Tamarind’s chop mark, which references the symbol for stone used by medieval alchemists, appears in the lower left corner. The print is unframed.

Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) was by birth one-quarter Luiseño Indian, a California Mission Tribe. He was born in Minnesota, spent two decades in the Dakotas, and lived in Galisteo, NM, and Scottsdale, AZ.  Scholder came to Santa Fe in 1964 to teach advanced painting and art history at the new Institute of American Indian Arts, a school established by the United States Department of the Interior. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Arizona in 1964 before moving to Santa Fe and joining IAIA.  Scholder enjoyed a long and successful career and is regarded today as one of the most innovative and influential Native artists.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: this Fritz Scholder "American Warrior" Stone Lithograph is from a private Santa Fe collection

Reference: Fritz Scholder Lithographs Text by Clinton Adams

TAGS: Luiseño Indian, a California Mission Tribe, Santa Fe, paintings, lithographs, Albuquerque, Fritz Scholder, Luiseño Indian Painter