“Man in Chair” Monotype [R]

Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) was a world-famous abstract expressionist painter who was one-quarter Luiseño Indian by birth.  Though probably best known for his paintings, Scholder found a great deal of success working with a variety of media—many of which he didn’t begin exploring until well into his career.  As a naturally gifted artist he was able to learn very quickly how to use the advantages of each new medium to the fullest, and is known now as not just a painter but an excellent sculptor and printmaker.

Scholder’s first foray into printmaking happened at Tamarind Institute, a nonprofit lithography workshop that was founded in Los Angeles before moving to New Mexico.  Under the guidance of Tamarind’s master printers, Scholder was a quick study.  He would go on to create hundreds of lithographs at Tamarind.  He also began exploring monotype printing, too, at Santa Fe’s Hand Graphics and Scottsdale’s Rezvani Workshop.

Scholder’s monotypes were usually composed of a wide variety of colors blended together to create unique textures.  This piece, the matter-of-factly titled “Man in Chair,” is atypical in that it uses just one color and eschews textural variations altogether in favor of a mostly uniform application of ink.  The cream-colored paper serves as the framing lines and lit-up surfaces, the black ink serves as the shadow that dominates the piece.  Together, they create a stark and beautiful depiction of a reclining man.  Behind the man’s chair sits a canine companion—a common subject for Scholder.  A lesser artist’s attempt at an image like this would likely be overwhelmingly gloomy.  In the hands of an artist with such a powerful command of composition and form, the image is serene and beautiful.  

“Man in Chair” was completed at Rezvani workshop in the early 1980s.  It is signed and titled by the artist, and marked with Rezvani’s chop mark and Scholder’s buffalo chop mark.  It is mounted and framed with its edges exposed.

Condition: this "Man in Chair" Monotype is in excellent condition

Provenance: From the large collection of a Santa Fe resident