Freeman’s | Hindman to Present Fritz Scholder’s Most Celebrated Painting to Market in May Post War and Contemporary Art Auction
Freeman’s | Hindman is thrilled to present its highly anticipated spring auction of Post War and Contemporary Art, taking place May 13 in the firm’s New York saleroom. Headlining the sale is Four Indian Riders (1967), one of the most iconic and visually arresting paintings by celebrated Native American artist Fritz Scholder. A bold and groundbreaking work that shattered conventions and redefined Indigenous representation in American art, Four Indian Riders leads a standout lineup of Modern and Contemporary masters, including Frank Stella, Gertrude Abercrombie, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Tom Wesselmann, and Lois Dodd.
Zack Wirsum, Senior Vice President, Head of Department, Post War & Contemporary Art, provides his impressions of the sale. "The Freeman's | Hindman Post War & Contemporary Art team is proud and pleased to bring a collaboratively minded sale full of visual synergies and serendipitous surprises, ranging from once local flavors turned taste making mainstays of Abercrombie and Scholder to extraordinary examples from art historical icons including Lichtenstein, de Kooning, Stella and Wesselmann, to the global stage of our New York saleroom on May 13th."
Scholder’s Four Indian Riders: Transcending and Challenging Existing Traditions
Bold and uncompromising, Four Indian Riders, 1967 (Lot 88) is widely considered one of the most iconic paintings ever created by Fritz Scholder. With its vivid palette and striking composition of four Native Americans on horseback, the work defies romanticized portrayals and presents its subjects with a raw, modern sensibility. Painted in the same year that Scholder first approached the subject of the American Indian, the piece is a vivid collision of identity, history, and pop-inflected color, drawing influence from Abstract Expressionism and Color Field painting. It was prominently featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s landmark 2008–2009 retrospective Indian/Not Indian—so central that it was chosen for the exhibition’s catalogue cover. As a visual manifesto of Scholder’s boundary-breaking vision, Four Indian Riders has become emblematic of his challenge to the art world’s portrayal of Native identity.
Speaking to the artist’s legacy is Alexandria Dreas, Specialist, Head of Sale, Western and Contemporary Native American Art. “The impact of Fritz Scholder’s refusal to conform to cultural expectations and artistic norms cannot be overstated; he helped to reinvent Native American art within the broader canon of Post-War and Contemporary American art. His creative synthesis of cultural identity, art history, and contemporary American art movements forever changed Indigenous art in America.”
In this singular work, Scholder distills the contradictions that defined both his personal experience and the broader American narrative surrounding Indigenous people. The riders are neither stoic symbols nor nostalgic archetypes—they are complex, contemporary figures rendered in bold, expressive strokes that reject stereotypes and invite ambiguity. Scholder once said, “If a Pop artist is one who is challenging clichés, then, in a way, I must be one, because the American Indian has become the biggest of clichés.” Four Indian Riders embodies that ethos, challenging both Native and non-Native viewers to reconsider familiar tropes. Through this painting, Scholder confronts cultural mythologies and asserts a radical new space for Native representation in contemporary art—one that remains as provocative and relevant today as it was five decades ago.
The presentation of Four Indian Riders follows a remarkable history of success in auctioning this artist's works. Freeman’s | Hindman continues to break its own world auction records for this artist, previously set by Hollywood Indian and Horse #2, 1973, which sold in 2022 for $500,000.
The Jazz Witch Continues Her Song
Gertrude Abercrombie (American, 1909-1977) | She and I, 1935 | Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
Gertrude Abercrombie (American, 1909-1977) | Set for the Night, 1950 | Estimate: $50,000 - 70,000
Also among the top highlights of the sale is a rare group of works by Gertrude Abercrombie, a pivotal figure in the mid-20th century Chicago art scene whose enigmatic, surrealist paintings have garnered renewed critical acclaim. As the subject of the major retrospective Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World is a Mystery at the Carnegie Museum of Art, the artist’s market and institutional presence continue to rise.
The firm is proud to offer five exceptional works by Abercrombie in the May auction, led by the early and introspective She and I, 1935 (Lot 97) and the hauntingly intimate Set for the Night, 1950 (Lot 93), estimated at $15,000–25,000 and $50,000–70,000, respectively. These works offer a rare opportunity to acquire pieces by an artist whose mystique and influence only continue to deepen.
Further Abercrombie works include:
· Lot 94 | Moonlight and Landscape with Tree (Tree Lady), 1944 Estimate: $60,000 - 80,000
· Lot 95 | Three Trees and Three Clouds, 1938 Estimate: $40,000 - 60,000
· Lot 96 | Landscape with Giraffe, c. 1950-55 Estimate: $60,000 - 80,000
Celebrating A Vision in Color: A Curated Session by Emily Friedman
Alice Baber (American, 1928-1982) | Light Ladder, 1965 | Estimate: $50,000 - 70,000
Ethel Schwabacher (American, 1903-1984) | Ode #I, 1954 | Estimate: $30,000 - 50,000
Comprising 50 of the auction’s 114 lots, Emily Friedman's A Vision in Color: A Curated Session presents a vibrant and thoughtfully assembled selection of works by emerging and established voices in contemporary and post-war art, with a special emphasis on the Light and Space movement. Curated by Emily Friedman of Emily Friedman Fine Art, a full-service advisory known for its discerning eye and innovative approach, the session showcases a cohesive visual narrative that encourages viewers to slow down, engage deeply, and experience the emotional resonance of color and form. Highlights include striking pieces by Peter Alexander (Lot 59), Ethel Schwabacher (Lot 35), Lita Albuquerque (Lot 55), Emily Mason (Lot 33), Alice Baber (Lot 32), and Paul Jenkins (Lot 45), among others—artists whose work captures a sense of movement, energy, and contemplative beauty.
Additional Highlights Include
· Lot 10 | Frank Stella (American, 1936–2024) | The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, 1977 | Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
· Lot 7 | Mary Heilmann (American, b. 1940) | Deco, 1989 Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
· Lot 11 | Magdalena Abakanowicz (Polish, 1930-2017) | Two Moons, 1974 Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
· Lot 22 | Tom Wesselmann (American, 1931-2004) | Little Great American Nude #10, 1961 | Estimate: $60,000 - 100,000 Property from the Estate of Mimi Kazon
· Lot 89 | Lois Dodd (American, b. 1927) | October Barn + Trees Afternoon, 1997 Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000 Property from the Collection of Eliot C. and Wilson “Roly” Nolen
Sale Preview
The sale preview will be on view at Freeman’s | Hindman’s New York showroom at 32 East 67th Street.
Public Viewing Hours: