Accession # |
71.134.2 |
Artist |
Fritz Scholder
|
Publisher |
Tamarind Institute
|
Title |
Indian with Feather |
Date |
1970-1971 |
Medium |
Lithograph on paper |
Dimensions |
30 1/4 x 22 in. (76.8 x 55.9 cm) |
Marks |
Embossed with Tamarind chop lower left and with printers' chops lower center and lower right |
Signed |
Signed lower center in graphite: "Scholder" |
Credit Line |
Bristol-Myers Fund |
Location |
American Identities: Everyday Life / A Nation Divided
|
Description |
A side view of a standing Indian wrapped in a solid robe with only his head peering out. There is a grimace on his face. A singular feather projects out from his head to the edge of the print. |
Curatorial Remarks:
What is Native American art and who is a Native American artist? The artist Fritz Scholder referred to himself as a non-Indian Indian, someone who never felt the pull of two different cultures. With this lithograph series he challenges popular stereotypical depictions of Indians as stoic, noble, pure, and the embodiment of wisdom. Instead, he offers an amorphous human form, showing only a scruffy face with an open mouth, though the hint of a warrior breastplate, the wrapped braids, and the sharply angled feather suggest a Native American identity. The figure’s tightly wrapped blanket and his turned pose seem to reject empathy from the viewer.