Native American Research Project

Native American Research Project: Western Artists

When the west began to advance into a civilization artists started to gravitate towards it as their new muse. Artists wanted to depict the west because of the culture, beauty, and lifestyle that had never been seen before. The west was a new world that was waiting to be seen through the eyes of others. Some artists looked at the west in a romanticized way, while others trying to capture what they believed as the true west. Fritz Scholder was one of few artists that wanted to show the realism and actuality of the west, and Albert Bierstadt was one of many to romanticize and idealize the west.

Fritz Scholder was a well-known painter before the movement of western/ Indian painting, but this movement put him on the map. Fritz was annoyed at the fact that all art surrounding the west were these beautiful landscapes and high cultural people. He wanted to show the authenticity and reality of an Indian, or better known as a person. Even though this was his goal he sometimes struggled to meet it. During this time, romanticized art was a humongous fad that could not be stopped. Thus leaving Fritz with a hard challenge that he had to overcome. Fritz Scholder’s main subject matters included: locals where he worked, his ethnic heritage, and various romantic and misguided ideas of the west. The main reason that Fritz wanted to depict the Indians as their true selves was because he was sixteenth percent Indian from his grandmother. He did not embrace this side of his heritage until he began to paint them and realized that he had to show the truth. Fritz wanted to show Indians in the twentieth century such as in cars or drinking a can of beer. To emphasize that Indians are normal people, yes they do have a great culture that surrounds them but that is not all that Indians are. This way of the thinking is the reason today that Fritz is regarded; he changed the way that Indians were respected. This did not happen right away however. Most people really didn’t like the way he chose to show Indians and their lifestyle. People wanted to see the beautiful and captivating images they were used to, instead of the green faces distorted bodies that Fritz was painting. This did not get to Fritz at all, he loved any sort of reaction he could get from his paintings, “I’m interested in someone reacting to my work and I don’t care if they react negatively or positively, as long as they react.” This quotes was taken from a documentary from 1975 about Fritz Scholder. The first painting of Fritz Scholder’s that is shown below is called “Untitled Portrait of an Indian”. This painting is a simplistic, rugged painting that shows the culture with the feathers on the top of the head. However the abstractness from this paintings show that Fritz was not in anyway trying to show the beauty of an Indian, he was showing the true beliefs and lifestyle of an Indian.  The third paining that is shown below is called, “Indian with Beer Can”. This piece is one of Fritz Scholder’s most well know and most controversial of all of his paintings. As you can see the painting shows an Indian casually holding a beer can like any other man would. This was huge. People did not like to see Indians doing things that they did because they didn’t people that Indians were on the same level as them. Some believed them to higher and some believed them to be lower. All in all however Fritz Scholder completely kept his promise to himself that he would not romanticize the west, and with this kept promise came one of the most influential painters of the Western time period.   

Albert Bierstadt was a wonderful and beautiful painter that made his mark in the world by painting romanticized versions of the west. Albert was always a landscape artist but with the western movement of art came his fame. Albert painted what he saw but altered it to create an even more awe-inspiring look. He believed that things were beautiful, but that he could make them even better. Most of Albert’s paintings were done on huge canvases to emphasize the effect of greatness. Albers painting of the newly accessible American West made him a renowned artist. Unlike Fritz Scholder he painted to shoe beauty and love instead of true culture and lifestyle. Albert did paint culture but the way that he painted it changed the way people viewed it. When viewers look at romanticized art they immediately think beauty and are instantly moved by what they see. This is why most people gravitate towards romanticized work or realism work. People want to see what they see instead of having to comprehend what the artist is trying to show. Albert Bierstadt believed that, “our own country has the best material for the artists in the world”. Both of Albert’s paintings that are below us complex color patterns that are pleasing to the eye and that make you want to continue glancing at the paintings. He did show Indian settlements but they are from far away and not personalized in any way. Fritz Scholder put so much personality into every single one of his paintings. You can feel the emotion that is being depicted from the painting. While Albert Bierstadt chose landscapes looking in onto Indians instead of initially drawing the emotion he sees. Albert Bierstadt was an amazing painter that fully captured the beauty and life of the west; he completely captured the imagination of all Americans in the ninetieth century.

Both artists are amazing for different things, Albert Bierstadt is known for his beauty and moving sensation that is captured through his art. Fritz Scholder is known for his realism and starkness of his paintings. I personally feel as though Fritz Scholder paintings had more of an impact on me because of the emotion and truth behind it, while Albert Bierstadt’s paintings are lovely and awe-inspiring they do not convey a certain truth about the west. 

Fritz Scholder untitled portrait of an Indian

Fritz Schilder "The American Indian"

Fritz Scholder "Indian with a Beer Can"

Albert Bierstadt "Indian Encampment, Shoshone Village "

Albert Bierstadt "View of Chimney Rock, Ohalilah Sioux Village in Foreground"

1. Academy of Achievement Fritz Scholder Biography
2. NYTimes Fritz Scholder
3. Fritz Scholder: indian not indian Book  
4. Fritz Scholder Voice of America Article
5. Albert Bierstadt Biography
6. Encyclopedia Britannica Albert Bierstadt
7. Haggin Museum Albert Bierstadt