Skip to main content
Fritz Scholder
Fritz Scholder
Fritz Scholder

Fritz Scholder

1937 Breckenridge, Minnesota - 2005 Phoenix, Arizona
BiographyAIMM
Fritz Scholder—who considered himself equal parts German, French, and Luiseno and was an enrolled member of the Californian Mission tribe—subverted the traditional, romantic image of the American Indian in his work, instead portraying Native Americans through a realist lens. Scholder observed the contemporary realities of Native Americans. He combined Pop Art with Abstract Expressionism, and considered himself a colorist first and foremost, also producing sculpture, prints, and photography. Scholder was born in 1937 in Breckenridge, Minnesota. His high school teacher was Oscar Howe, a noted Sioux artist. In 1956, he took his freshman year at Wisconsin State University then moved with his family in 1957 to Sacramento, California where he studied with Wayne Thiebaud at Sacramento City College. He earned his B.A. from Sacramento State University and then moved to Arizona where he earned his MFA Degree in 1964 from the University of Arizona before accepting the position of instructor in Advanced Painting and Contemporary Art History at the Institute of American Indian Arts. During this time, he developed a series of paintings on Native Americans that was focused on breaking down the national cliché by depicting contemporary Native American life and issues with images featuring objects like American Flags, beer cans, and cats. He resigned in 1969 and traveled to Europe and North Africa before returning to Santa Fe. He started experimenting with printmaking in the 1970s and has lectured at numerous conference and universities. He moved to Arizona in 1994 and died in 2005. He received numerous awards during his life including: 2002 Arizona Governor’s Award, Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement, a humanitarian Award from the 14th Norsk Hostfest, and five honorary degrees from Ripon College, University of Arizona, Concordia College, the College of Santa Fe, and the University of Wisconsin, Superior.
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
    David Bradley
    born 1954 Eureka, California; lives Santa Fe, New Mexico
    born 1965 Gallup, New Mexico; lives Santa Fe, New Mexico and Berkeley, California
    born 1954 Los Angeles; lives Santa Fe, New Mexico
    Helen Hardin
    1943 Albuquerque, New Mexico - 1984 Albuquerque, New Mexico
    Ray Abeyta
    1956 Santa Cruz, New Mexico - 2014 Brooklyn, New York
    Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
    born1940 Flathead Reservation, Montana; lives Corrales, New Mexico
    born 1963 Los Angeles, California; lives Farmington, New Mexico
    born 1942 Brooklyn, New York; lives Bernalillo, New Mexico
    Gilbert Magu Luján
    1940 French Camp, California - 2011 Los Angeles, California
    Patrick Nagatani
    1945 Chicago, Illinois - 2017 Albuquerque, New Mexico