Fritz Scholder is one of the most influential Native American painters. Raised in Minnesota, Scholder spent most of his life in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he painted and taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Scholder was able to break free of the restrictions often imposed on Native artists, and depict Native people as complex human figures in contemporary societies.
Unfinished Dancer is a monumental painting by Scholder and includes his signature style of an individual figure within an abstract, unknown location.