Fritz Scholder’s imagery in paintings and prints frequently explores the cultural contradictions of late twentieth-century Native American life. He often shows harsh realities but sometimes presents a humorous view, as in this lithograph, in which warriors on horseback carry non-native, innocuously jaunty umbrellas. This seemingly improbable scene is actually taken from real life; umbrellas have been used by both men and women as protection from the hot sun on the Plains since the late nineteenth century.

Fritz Scholder, ambivalent about identifying himself as a Native American artist, often chose an objective stance in portraying Native subjects. This lithograph belongs to a series in which he challenged stereotypical perceptions of the Indian as noble, pure, and a symbol of wisdom. Standing inert with an indecipherable expression, the figure nevertheless exudes a strange power, waiting for something the viewer can only guess.

Fritz Scholder’s imagery in paintings and prints frequently explores atypical views of Native American life. Most depictions of this subject feature the vibrant colors of the regalia and the swirling action of the Buffalo dancers, performing in celebration of their past. Instead, Scholder offers a somber depiction of the haunted soul of a man with hollow eyes. His vacant stare implies that the past is dead, the present is empty, and the future cannot be envisioned.

Signed and dated top left: "CHAVEZ/MORADO/49"

Kananginak, son of Eegyvudluk Pootoogook, made this print from a drawing by his father. The subject alludes to Inuit knowledge of the interconnected workings of their environment. This print was included in the first graphics collection produced by Cape Dorset Graphics of the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, an organization created to promote Inuit art. An exhibition of the first thirty-nine prints toured Canada and the United States to great critical acclaim in 1959, leading to a continuation of the printmaking program, which is still active today.

Bequest of Richard J. Kempe

Bequest of Richard J. Kempe

Signed lower right in graphite: "Scholder"

Signed lower right in graphite: "Scholder"

Signed lower right in graphite: "Scholder"