Artist: Fritz Scholder; Title: Indians and Persian Rug; Medium: Acrylic on canvas; Dimensions: 30 x 40 inches; Signed: Signed lower right; Verso: Titled and dated 1978 verso; Framed/Base: 32 x 42 inches
This lot's overall appearance is Excellent. This piece was evaluated under a black light. Tiny pin point of overpaint in lower left of painting. Very minor abrasion to the paint about 4" on the lower left side from rubbing against the frame.
Overall Dimensions
Height: 32.00
Width: 42.00
Provenance:
Private collection, Texas
In 1967, Fritz Scholder promised to never paint a Native American figure, a subject he thought had fallen into disgraceful cliché. But later the artist, who was part Luiseño, broke his promise and changed the trajectory of his career. “Standing before his students one day, he grew frustrated with their inability to create an ‘honest’ representation of current American Indians. So he carried his brushes and paints into the studio classroom and quickly filled the canvas with the figure he pledged to avoid. The same subject that would eventually define his works,” writes Jordan Steffen in the Smithsonian Magazine. “Scholder’s decision to break his promise marked a fierce turning point for campaign on behalf of Native American rights and for American Indian artists.”