Indian Inside the Kiva [SOLD]

Fritz Scholder was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was raised in the upper Midwest. His father worked as an administrator for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Although he was one quarter Luiseño, a tribe from Southern California, growing up he did not identify with being Native American. It was not until he began teaching advanced painting at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe that he began to reconsider his connection to the Native American experience.

As he got to know his students, and understand their customs, ceremonies and struggles, he felt the need to encourage them to reexamine the stereotypical images that had been part of the Native American art tradition. This resulted in his own reexamination of his connection to the Native American experience. He felt a need to expose the cliched images of the noble savage and represent the American Indian as an individual.

Scholder’s abstract impressionistic paintings and lithographs were vigorous explosions of bright  color and form. For him, they provided a medium to manifest the turbulent undercurrents resulting from centuries of  injustice and maltreatment of indigenous people. He wanted his audience to view Indians as they were currently,  living in modern society, in all of their various forms.

The complex process of lithography lends itself to the complex layers of Fritz Scholder’s work. “Indian Inside Kiva” is rendered in multiple layers of red and yellow. Small areas of blue are interspersed within the shadows. Darkness surrounding the central image creates a mood of power and strength. In lithography each color is separately drawn on a limestone block and each subsequent color is precisely layered on the previous one. The process requires meticulous attention to detail.  

The lithograph was executed at Tamarind Institute, the renowned lithography workshop in Albuquerque that is affiliated with the University of New Mexico. This lithograph was completed in 1978, in an edition of 100.  This is number 73 of 100.  It is mounted such that the entire image is visible.  The artist’s signature is written in pencil on the bottom left.

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