Fritz Scholder - War Dancer #1 [SOLD]

Fritz Scholder was a famous and influential painter, sculptor and printmaker.  He was one-quarter Luiseño, but had a complicated relationship with Native American art and culture. He described his upbringing as “Non-Native,” and had little interest in traditional Indian artwork.  He found himself surrounded by Pueblo Indian culture when he moved to Santa Fe in 1964 to teach painting at the newly-established Institute of American Indian Arts.  Three years after moving to Santa Fe, he painted his first Indian—something he had vowed he’d never do.  He would go on to create hundreds of paintings and lithographs featuring Indians as they’d not been depicted in the past.  These images would become some of Scholder’s most iconic.

This is a monotype impression created in the late 1970s or early 1980s.  Each monotype is unique.  There is only one. A monotype is made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The image is then transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the two together.  Most of the ink is removed during the initial pressing. Although subsequent printings are sometimes possible, they differ greatly from the first print and are generally considered inferior.

This piece, titled “War Dancer #1,” is a colorful piece that is, like many of Scholder’s late 1970s creations, fairly abstract but still representative of its subject.  The monotype process allowed for a wide variety of colors to be used, and Scholder made the most of this advantage.  Soft pinks and reds, which are used prominently and very effectively here, are atypical of his work.  He uses them confidently in this image.  A rich, dark blue fills the center of the piece.  Green and orange lines are blended in with all of the aforementioned colors to create the War Dancer’s ceremonial garb.

“War Dancer #1” is framed and matted beautifully.  Scholder signed the lower right side, and wrote its title in the lower left.

Provenance: from the large collection of a Santa Fe resident
Condition: original condition
Recommended Reading: Fritz Scholder Lithographs by Clinton Adams