Fritz Scholder “Roll Over Old Blue I” Artist Proof [R]

“Roll Over Old Blue I” was created by Fritz Scholder. This first of three states uses black, brown, yellow, and touches of purple to depict its canine subject. Black ink forms much of the dog’s body, but it serves other purposes too, washing over the brown background to form rich textural patterns. Of the three states in which this print was produced, this one might be the most accessible—the brighter tones of State II and the stark black and white of State I might be a bit stronger, but they are likely suited to more specific tastes. State I’s coloration feels refined.

This print was created in 1978 at Scottsdale, Arizona’s Southwest Graphics, a printing workshop that was founded in 1977. Most of Scholder’s lithography work was produced at New Mexico’s Tamarind Institute. This piece maintains a connection to Scholder’s first and most frequent workshop through master printers Lynn Elton Baker and Joy Purmal Baker, who studied and worked at Tamarind before founding Southwest Graphics.

The print is signed Scholder in lower right and labeled “A.P.” in lower left. It is marked with the print shop and printer’s chop marks. It is unframed.

Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) was by birth one-quarter Luiseño Indian, a California Mission Tribe. He was born in Minnesota, spent two decades in the Dakotas, and lived in Galisteo, NM, and Scottsdale, AZ.  Scholder came to Santa Fe in 1964 to teach advanced painting and art history at the new Institute of American Indian Arts, a school established by the United States Department of the Interior. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Arizona in 1964 before moving to Santa Fe and joining IAIA.  Scholder enjoyed a long and successful career and is regarded today as one of the most innovative and influential Native artists.

Condition: excellent condition

Provenance: Fritz Scholder "Roll Over Old Blue I" Artist Proof is from a private Santa Fe collection

Reference: Fritz Scholder Lithographs Text by Clinton Adams

TAGS: Luiseño Indian, a California Mission Tribe, Santa Fe, paintings, lithographs, Albuquerque, Fritz Scholder, Luiseño Indian Painter