Buffalo Dancer

1970-1971

Fritz Scholder’s imagery in paintings and prints frequently explores atypical views of Native American life. Most depictions of this subject feature the vibrant colors of the regalia and the swirling action of the Buffalo dancers, performing in celebration of their past. Instead, Scholder offers a somber depiction of the haunted soul of a man with hollow eyes. His vacant stare implies that the past is dead, the present is empty, and the future cannot be envisioned.