Indian Image

Fritz Scholder, Indian Image, 1972, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1973.151
Fritz Scholder, Indian Image, 1972, acrylic on canvas, stretcher: 68 1880 in. (173.0203.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1973.151

Artwork Details

Title
Indian Image
Date
1972
Dimensions
stretcher: 68 1880 in. (173.0203.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — plain
  • Indian
  • Equestrian
Object Number
1973.151

Artwork Description

The figure in Indian Image appears to be just that: a flat image, as if cut from paper and pasted onto a colorful background.

An artist of Luiseño and European ancestry, Fritz Scholder both did and did not identify as American Indian, and early in his career, he chose not to paint American Indian subjects. He changed his mind in the 1960s, after encountering countless artworks that depict American Indian people two-dimensionally, as doomed figures existing only in a romanticized past.

By contrast, Scholder asserted a modern American Indian aesthetic. Enlivened by pop-art color and energetic brushwork, his paintings are pointedly contemporary in style, even when based--as is Indian Image--on a historical photograph.

Works by this artist (314 items)

Henry Wolf, Portrait of a Lady, 1906, wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.228
Portrait of a Lady
Date1906
wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Mrs. Alexander Campbell, 1913, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.282
Mrs. Alexander Campbell
Date1913
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Mrs. Deborah Franklin, 1898, wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.160
Mrs. Deborah Franklin
Date1898
wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, Miss Eleanor Gordon, 1908, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.238
Miss Eleanor Gordon
Date1908
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Henry Wolf, Toby Edward Rosenthal, Elaine, 1897, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Lester Neuman, 1964.10.4
Elaine
Date1897
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Henry Wolf, William Thomas Smedley, The Ruins of Hougomont, 1888, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.28
The Ruins of Hougomont
Date1888
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view
George Inness, Jr., Henry Wolf, Indians Gathering Nuts, 1879, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.3
Indians Gathering Nuts
Date1879
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view
Charles Paul Renouard, Henry Wolf, Who Sits at the Little Marble Tables, 1887, photomechanical wood engraving on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1973.130.20
Who Sits at the Little Marble Tables
Date1887
photomechanical wood engraving on paper
Not on view