Contemporary Native American Art
Department
Freeman's stands as a leader in the sale of Contemporary Native American Art. Our auctions focus on the development of the field from the 1960s to today's cutting-edge artists such as Earl Biss, Emmi Whitehorse, Ramona Sakiestewa, Tony Abeyta, Tammy Garcia, and Preston Singletary. Freeman's has set numerous world auction records for artists such as Fritz Scholder, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Kay WalkingStick, and David Bradley, solidifying the firm as the destination for Contemporary Native American Art. Contemporary Native American Art at Freeman's celebrates the innovation, cultural continuity, and artistic excellence of Indigenous artists working today. Our specialists present thoughtfully curated auctions featuring paintings, sculpture, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, basketry, mixed media, and other works that reflect the diversity of Native artistic expression across North America. From internationally recognized artists to emerging voices, we are committed to showcasing exceptional works while honoring the cultural traditions and individual perspectives that shape this dynamic field. Whether you are building a collection, seeking expert guidance, or considering the sale of a single work or an entire collection, our team provides trusted market expertise and personalized service throughout every stage of the collecting journey.
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Fritz Scholder (Luiseño, 1937-2005) Four Indian Riders, 1967
Price Realized $476,750
Team
Adam Veil
VP, Head of Department, American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionists
Morgan Martin
Senior Specialist, American Art, Head of Sale, Western Art, Wildlife, and Contemporary Native American Art
Latest Articles
Freeman’s Appoints Morgan Martin as Head of Sale, Western Art
Seasoned specialist brings over 15 years of auction experience and deep expertise in American Art
Freeman’s Reports $119 Million in Consolidated Sales in 2025, Underscoring Strong Market Momentum
Freeman’s today announced outstanding end-of-year results for 2025, reporting $119 million in combined sales and robust demand across categories. The firm achieved sell-through rates of 89% by volume and 109% by value, reflecting a 6.6% year-over-year increase from 2024 and underscoring the strength of Freeman’s unified platform. The year marked a transformational period for the firm, defined by strong financial performance, historic auctions, and strategic growth across key collecting categories. 2025 also represented a defining milestone with the unification of Freeman’s, Hindman, and Cowan’s under the single Freeman’s name—strengthening the firm’s mission to bring art, history, and design to life through exceptional expertise and service. 2025 affirmed our strength and the confidence our clients place in Freeman’s,” said Alyssa D. Quinlan, Chief Executive Officer. “As we move into 2026, we are focused on building upon this momentum—expanding our reach, deepening relationships with collectors and institutions, and presenting outstanding offerings that reflect the breadth and depth of our expertise.” From Left to Right: George Nakashima (American, 1905–1990) Exceptional Minguren I coffee table, 1982 | Sold for $89,400; Market Resiliency and Category Leadership Fuel Broad-Based Growth Freeman’s demonstrated remarkable market resiliency, with significant growth across multiple collecting categories. The firm’s Luxury departments, including Jewelry, Watches, and Handbags & Couture, delivered an exceptional seven-figure year-over-year increase, building on record success achieved in 2024. Across four Important Jewelry auctions, the Estates of Phyllis Pressman, Carol Hardin Davis, Mary L. Bundy, and Dayle Haddon each achieved 100% sell-through rates, reinforcing sustained demand at the highest levels of the market. Following the reintroduction of its Early 20th Century Design auctions, Design at Freeman’s recorded a 96% increase in sales year over year, alongside a 49% increase in lots sold. Additionally, Antiquities & Ancient Art reached a new departmental high for Freeman’s with $5 million in hammer sales, while both Books & Manuscripts ($12.6 million) and Luxury ($18 million) also posted departmental records for the firm, all figures reported at hammer. A pair of stained leather gloves carried by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination, 14 April 1865. | Sold for $1,512,500 Historic Auctions and World-Record Results 2025 was also a year of historic milestones. Lincoln’s Legacy: Historic Americana from the Life of Abraham Lincoln achieved the highest total for a single auction in company history. Highlights included the establishment of a world auction record for a historic Lincoln artifact, with the stained leather gloves carried by Lincoln to Ford’s Theatre on the night of his assassination realizing $1,512,500. Momentum continued with Master of Ceremonies: The Joel Grey Collection, which attracted 41% new buyers, underscoring Freeman’s ability to engage new audiences through culturally significant collections. The year concluded with Camp Rosemary: The Estate of Posy Krehbiel, which doubled its pre-sale estimate and achieved a 100% sold white-glove auction, providing a strong capstone to an extraordinary year. Fritz Scholder (Luiseño, 1937-2005) Four Indian Riders, 1967 | Sold for $476,750 Across fine art categories, Freeman’s continued to establish and lead markets. In May, Fritz Scholder’s monumental Four Indian Riders achieved the artist’s second-highest auction result, reinforcing Freeman’s stewardship of Scholder’s two highest records and five of his top ten prices. Strength in American Art and Pennsylvania Impressionism was further demonstrated by Morgan Colt’s The Canal Boat (c. 1915–25), which realized $216,400, setting a world auction record for the artist. Trusts, Estates & Private Clients remained a cornerstone of the firm’s success. In 2025, Freeman’s handled 131 trusts and estates, reflecting sustained confidence from fiduciaries, attorneys, and private clients nationwide. To support growing demand, the firm expanded its national presence with new Trusts, Estates & Private Clients representatives in Boston, Scottsdale, Denver, and New York, further enhancing its ability to deliver comprehensive estate services. Washington, George. Autograph Letter, signed| Estimate: $250,000 - 350,000 Freeman’s Celebrates America’s 250th Anniversary in 2026 Looking ahead, Freeman’s is poised for an extraordinary 2026 as the nation marks its 250th anniversary. The year will feature a series of landmark auctions across Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago, beginning with Americana Week in New York. Highlights include the Printed and Manuscript Americana auction featuring a rare letter signed by George Washington penning his philosophy for the presidency. Spring offerings will also include Women’s Work, a cross-disciplinary celebration of women artists, alongside a newly dedicated sale spotlighting Vietnamese modernists Lê Phổ and Vũ Cao Đàm, building on Freeman’s established leadership in the category. Freeman’s is a premier American auction house offering services in multiple categories including fine art, jewelry, design, books and manuscripts, furniture, decorative arts, antiquities, couture, and Asian works of art. With 16 regional locations nationwide, the firm provides auctions, appraisals, private sales, and art advisory services, connecting clients to the global art market. Freeman’s strives to bring art, history, and design to life by connecting people with extraordinary objects through exceptional service and expertise.
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: Monday, May 5 – Friday, May 9 | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Saturday, May 10 | 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM Monday, May 12 | 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Freeman’s is a premier American auction house offering services in multiple categories including fine art, jewelry, design, books and manuscripts, furniture, decorative arts, antiquities, couture, and Asian works of art. With 16 regional locations nationwide, the firm provides auctions, appraisals, private sales, and art advisory services, connecting clients to the global art market. Freeman’s strives to bring art, history, and design to life by connecting people with extraordinary objects through exceptional service and expertise.
Fritz Scholder’s Insane Indian No. 25 (1972): A Raw and Compassionate Vision
“People don’t really like Indians. Oh, they like their own conceptions of the Indian — usually the Plains Indian, romantic and noble and handsome and somehow the embodiment of wisdom and patience. But Indians in America are usually poor, sometimes derelicts outside the value system, living in uncomfortable surroundings. We have really been viewed as something other than human beings by the larger society.”- Fritz Scholder to the Chicago Tribune, 1973 Set against a vivid red background, Fritz Scholder’s Insane Indian No. 25 (1972) presents a haunting, emotionally charged portrayal of a Native American figure. Cloaked in dark shadow, with a single feather suspended from his hair and frenetic, colorful brushstrokes animating his face, the figure pulses with intensity. This work, number 25 in Scholder’s groundbreaking Indian series, embodies the artist’s commitment to unflinching honesty in depicting Native American subjects. Rather than conforming to the romanticized stereotypes perpetuated by the Western art canon, Scholder offers a more complex, human, and often unsettling view of Indigenous identity. Created during a time of immense social upheaval—the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the rise of psychedelia and rock and roll—Insane Indian No. 25 channels the emotional undercurrents of its era. The painting strips away illusion, offering a raw look into the psyche of its subject. Yet, despite its grim thematic content, psychosis, alienation, and inner turmoil, Scholder imbues the work with empathy. His bold, expressive use of color and gesture conveys not just intensity but compassion. “The positive does not exist without the negative,” he once said. “And the role of the artist is not to compromise, but to express the truth with all the power of which he is capable.” To be offered this November 14 in Freeman’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in New York, the strategic placement of Insane Indian No. 25 underscores Scholder’s stature not only as a Native American artist but as a major figure in contemporary American figurative painting and colorism. Throughout his career, Scholder resisted the narrow label of "Native artist." Instead, he embraced the visual language of Pop Art —its vibrant palette, confrontational themes, and cultural immediacy —to depict Native American subjects with unprecedented directness and emotional depth. He sought to redefine how these subjects were seen and understood, placing them at the center of contemporary artistic discourse. At Freeman’s, we are honored to present Scholder’s work within the context of Post-War and Contemporary Art, where it belongs. As market leaders in Scholder’s oeuvre, we have proudly sold 10 of the top 20 highest-priced works by the artist at auction. Insane Indian No. 25 comes to us from a distinguished private collection and is being offered as part of Property from the Collection of Barbara Berger. Acquired from Nedra Matteucci Galleries in Santa Fe, the work made an unforgettable impression on the consignor. “Upon visiting the gallery, I was immediately drawn to it because it was just so striking,” Berger recalled. “I was absolutely transfixed. I had no idea who Fritz Scholder was, but I was in awe. Actually, a spiritual moment! Nothing else we have acquired has had that impact on us.” Scholder’s Insane Indian No. 25 stands as a powerful testament to his fearless vision, disrupting convention, challenging perception, and insisting on truth. Its inclusion in this season’s Post War and Contemporary Art sale affirms his rightful place among the most vital American artists of the 20th century.
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