Oral history interview with Fritz Scholder
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 31 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Scholder, Fritz, 1937-2005
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
topic: label: Occupation
content: Artists' models
label: Topic
content: Painters -- Arizona -- Scottsdale -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the transcription of this interview provided by the Pasadena Art Alliance.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Scholder, Fritz, 1937-2005
label: Interviewer
content: Karlstrom, Paul J.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) was a painter from Scottsdale, Ariz.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 21 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2000 December 7
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.schold00
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Fritz Scholder conducted 2000 December 7, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art, in Karlstrom's home, San Francisco, Calif.
label: Scope and Contents
content: The interview focused on the theme of artists and models. Topics discussed include how the incorporation and transformation of the human figure (generally female) occur in Scholder's paintings, from first idea through studio interaction to finished work. He described his goal of breaking with the cliché of the female nude and make the subject his own in terms of expression. Among the artist's thematic series are one devoted to vampires, monsters, passion, shamans, and witches. He describes these themes as providing opportunities to work with nude female individuals as unpracticed amateur models. The model, if stimulated by the themes, contributes to their transformation into works of art. According to Scholder, a special rapport between artist and model (including in some cases intimacy) is often reflected in the final image. He views the studio as an arena for self-discovery, for the artist but especially for the models. The second half of the interview involved a discussion of specific works within key series, including Monster Love, Dreams, Passion, Mystery Women, and Lilith; Scholder idea of the artist-as-vampire. In his view this is a positive attribute, one that brings for the "victim" transformation, release, and self-knowledge and his stated goal to inscribe that experience into his art.