FRITZ SCHOLDER

- FRITZ SCHOLDER -

Luiseño, 1937-2005

Fritz Scholder was a boundary-breaking artist known for his bold and unorthodox depictions of Native American life and identity. Scholder was of Luiseño descent on his patrilineal side. His mother was of German and French ancestry. Scholder grew up in various parts of the Midwest as his family moved frequently due to his father’s job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In a formative period during high school in South Dakota, Scholder studied under the legendary artist Oscar Howe. He later studied in Sacramento under Contemporary Art icon Wayne Thiebaud. 

Scholder exhibited widely in the United States and internationally. He was invited to participate in the prestigious Dartmouth Residency program in 1973. The work he created from this time remain some of his most finite and desirable artworks. The Horseman Collection contains two major examples from this residency and period. 

Fritz Scholder was offered solo exhibitions at well-known institutions, such as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Wheelwright Museum, Denver Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, Crocker Art Museum, and the Tweed Museum, among many others. 

Fritz Scholder's paintings can be found in the private collections of major art connoisseurs as well as in prestigious institutions including Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Denver Art Museum.