Friday 30 April 2010

Sunny Bunny (2010) Ritchie Sinclair - Rabbits (1985) Norval Morrisseau

Sunny Bunny a.k.a. Ritchie the Rabbit
Ritchie Sinclair
30" x 48" - acrylic on canvass - Easter 2010

Woodland Gold is essentially "paper money" and a "true" global currency. It is also a divine form of alchemy that allows any practitioner of the school, at any time, to produce "true" (Woodland) gold. They have only to be convinced of the sacred cause of their moment in the sun when they are called to respond with impeccable skill under the direction of Spirit. To Spirit they are responsive. In Morrisseau, they see the example, and are convinced.

Ritchie Sinclair
©1999 Woodland Gold


Untitled
Norval Morrisseau
acrylic on canvass - 36" x 48" - Easter 1985

In 1985 Norval asked me to "challenge him". i.e give him a few ideas to spark his imagination. I suggested that he paint some Rabbits. He went to town on rabbit paintings. He had great fun with this painting and loved the idea that he had dressed up this rabbit in Levis. He even did the logo on the pocket and then omitted it. As you can see from the Sun they were happy times.

Thursday 29 April 2010

Selwyn Dewdney on Norval Morrisseau - 1963

A unique photo from the Norval Morrisseau Memorial,"Gathering of the People",
held at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto on Saturday, December 8, 2007

In his tortured efforts to reconcile the skepticism of a superior intelligence with the fantasies of his people's folklore, to be a leader of his people without raising himself above the humblest of them, to give proudly from the richness of his heritage and yet open his mind to the truths that lie buried in the bewildering complexities of the dominant culture, Morrisseau is as contemporary as space travel or anti-matter. I have seen him at times torn apart and made desperate with doubt. I have also seen him serene in an upsurge of power that issues from each fresh resolution of his inner agonies.


This is no ordinary man. And I predict, whatever label we may finally bestow on his work, he will continue to produce extraordinary paintings.

Selwyn Dewdney
Canadian Art Magazine,1963

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Man Changes into Bear Walker (1989) by Norval Morrisseau

Man Changes into Bear Walker
Norval Morrisseau
acrylic on canvas, 36 ¼” x 111 ¼”, 1989

Since returning from Paris last June Norval Morrisseau has been working on a new body of work.The visions like ancient taboos that have changed into dreams of the future, come to life on canvas. They are talismans of hope for the future and images of respect from the past.

 Bryant Ross
The Art Emporium, Vancouver, 1989

Sunday 25 April 2010

Norval Morrisseau - Stained Glass Effect - An interpretation by Stardreamer


Stained Glass Effect
Norval Morrisseau
Acrylic on Canvass - 1989

This painting was one of a number that were painted in 1989 soon after Morrisseau returned from his exhibit at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris as part of the French Revolution Bicentennial celebrations. Morrisseau has titled it on the back in pencil.

Interpretation

Stained Glass Effect is a totem of empowerment.

Morrisseau is a member of the Bear Clan and a Grand Shaman of the Medicine Society which is traditionally guarded by four Medicine Bears. This painting depicts the Great Medicine Bear. In this painting Morrisseau depicts man as "God".

As a talisman this painting provides protection, good health, harmony and peace in accordance with the axiom, "as it is above, so it is below".

Morrisseau sets "white" into all "three" eyes to reveal that this bear is a "Spirit Bear", increasing its Shamanic significance. Spirit Bears are the legendary "albino" bear found only in British Columbia, where this painting was created. White, in any Morrisseau bear represents "good medicine" (i.e. White Magic).

This medicine is powerful because whenever a Spirit Bear appears the Anishnaabe are given a profound remembrance from their Creator. A reminder of their magnificent home from long ago that has been encoded into tribal memory. A place we named "Antarctica" and formerly called "Atlantis".

Spirit Bear, in three-fold stance, symbolically depicts the Anishnaabe constellation of Orion. To Morrisseau, as it is with the Aboriginals of the Southern Hemisphere, Orion a.k.a. "Bear" symbolizes the prehistoric source of all humanity. They believe that we are sourced to a planet that revolves around a star we called "Sirius". In this painting, the three brightest stars of Orion’s Belt are represented as the three white eyes of Bear.

This bear generates power.

The West side of this painting represents the past. The East represents the future.
The blue sky above represents the heavenly and the green below, the earthly.
The pink bar which crosses the breadth of the painting symbolizes society, humanity, conformity, horizontal life and the fragility of flesh (i.e. mortality).

The obelisk, rod of power or erect penis, is a primary aboriginal symbol depicting Shamanic power and the perpetuating life force. Its significant size and status in tandem with it facing North-East shows that Bear will ecstatically power up one’s future.

The bright orange pack on the back of Bear is his medicine pouch, traditionally placed on his back by South American Shamans and Morrisseau, in perfect accordance to the formation of the Orion Constellation’s secondary stars.

The deep red power point to the South-West of the artwork symbolizes the generation of earthly power from the deep past. The emanating lines from this "balanced" and therefore energizing power point show this earthly power circulating into Bear yet from humanity.

Bear’s legs and paws show us that he is driven through physical life to deliver "blueprint seeds" (or gifts) depicted as blue dots.

An Emanating line of power emerges from the hind leg of Bear. Five blue dots in this, the most "physical" of his appendages, show us that Bear lives life as a physical man. The emerging line of power shows that Bear contributes to the development of civilization.

Bear’s middle leg and paw display six "blueprint" dots which symbolize the realized ideal of a good life. Fruitful seeds of emotional life have been planted and grown. They have emerged through society and beyond into a higher place of peace and harmony.

Rising out of a deep purple which symbolizes ancient instincts Bear’s penis lifts emotional energy. Sexual power is impeccably balanced and expressed in the clear light of day as an act of God. Bear lifts and circulates energy.

Bear’s forepaw depicts Bear’s mind. It is a universal reflection of the five blueprint dots shown on Bear’s hind leg and paw. As it is above so it is below. It is the mind of a man.

The foreleg is painted differently than the other legs. It appears as a deep purple stroked with "Mayan" green, symbolizing knowledge of an ancient past.

The source or "soul vessel" who carries this ancient knowledge is grafted into the spirit of Bear depicted as the Shaman of the North-West. His ear adornments make it clear that he is the source of these "blueprints" which Bear brings to life. The Shaman’s turban shows us that he is the source of this knowledge which has "mushroomed" into being. It is Bear’s inheritance of inherent gifts from the past.

The Spiritual man, depicted as the North-East man, is the viewer experiencing this awesome power of God as a divine awakening.

Five green wheels of life and power circulate in perfect balance creating an energy path.

An emanating line of power emerges from the light purple of higher spiritual insight where its power modifies Bear’s instincts as it drives through Bear’s penis, transforming life into love, awakening mind and giving Bear the gift of voice.

Bear needs only use his tongue so that the upper and lower jaws are connected as one. Then the power once given will be returned. The circle fulfilled. The past with be joined to the future to create the eternal now.

The pink nose of this Sacred Bear symbolizes a complete Soul. This is a being blessed with the power of the tongue, peace of "high-bernation" and place of Kundalini release.

>>>>>>> Stardreamer


Little Bear of Orion with Medicine Pack

NORVAL MORRISSEAU in the MAGAZINE OF THE NORTH - 1971

Untitled (1970)
Norval Morrisseau




NORVAL MORRISEAU


For more than a decade the bright bold art of Norval Morriseau has portrayed mythical figures from the folklore of his people. In the beginning his work was stylized, semi-abstract, a compro­mise between Ojibwa law that demands sacred beliefs be kept secret, and his own passion to record the legends of his people. In recent years the mythical figures have taken more substantial form. His favourite theme of the thunderbird man appears more solidly human; his patterns of deep bold colour hold the eye like sunlight on stained glass. Light fanciful butterflies sometimes appear in his work, a contrast to solidly massed colour and a delight to his children.

Morriseau, born in 1931 at the Sand Point Reserve on Lake Nipigon in northern Ontario, states simply that he is a born artist with no formal training. His only consistent schooling was two winters at the Indian Residential School at Fort William. As a young boy he spent many hours with his grandfather who told him legends that he in turn had heard from his grandfather. The spirit figures filled the boy's imagination; he covered the cabin walls with his drawings.

He was first encouraged to continue his drawing and painting when he was employed at the Cochenour gold mine at Red Lake. Dr. Joseph Weinstein, the medical officer was himself an artist of some talent and a collector of primitive art. Morriseau's first show was held at the Pollock Gallery in Toronto in 1962. His work has since been seen in a sixteen-foot-high mural at Expo '67 and in exhibitions in Canada and the United States as well as at Saint Paul de Vence, France.

In 1960 Morriseau wrote the legends of his people down on paper for Selwyn Dewdney who edited his book Legends of my People, the Great Ojibway, published in 1965. A second book Windigo and other tales of the Ojibways was published in co-operation with Dr. Herbert T. Schwarz in 1969.

Morriseau says of the mythical figures: 'I drew and painted them as best I could for the Ojibwa and for all the children of our white brothers to see'.

The Beaver - MAGAZINE OF THE NORTH;
Issue of SUMMER 1971; Pages: 24 & 25;
Hudson's Bay Company

Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways - Herbert T. Schwarz - Norval Morrisseau

Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways
Herbert T. Schwarz/Norval Morrisseau
McClelland and Stewart Limited
1969

"The time has come for us to record the story of our people," writes Norval Morrisseau. "I listened to many of these stories and to our legends and ancestral beliefs as they were told to me by the wise men of the Ojibway. I wrote some of them on paper, and I drew and painted them as best I could for the Ojibway and for all the children of our white brothers to see."

Retold by Herbert T. Schwarz, here are eight legends of the Ojibway, illustrated in the traditional style of the tribe with two-colour drawings by the Ojibway artist, Norval Morrisseau.

Windigo, an Indian trapper, is transformed by an evil spirit into a giant with an insati­able appetite. Three young braves defy the traditions of their ancestors and climb the Forbidden Mountain, where they are be­witched by a Thunderbird Woman. Red Bird of the Ojibways and Medicine Turtle of the Assiniboines, both great chiefs and conjurors, battle to see whose magic is more powerful. Pantenata sympathizes with the strange being Paakuk and hears the eerie story of his sin, which condemned him "for hundreds of years to fly around and around the world, between the moon and the sun, day in and day out, till the world's end." Silver Cloud suddenly becomes a bright red mushroom, right before his brother's eyes. Beautiful Ishka-Maatuk flees from an unwanted mar­riage in her father's village. Whisky-Jack angers the water spirit Mishipeshu with his arrogance, and is swallowed by a monstrous trout. His greed for silver causes the white trader Balthazar to deceive the friendly In­dians, and incurs the wrath of the great god Manitou...

Morrisseau recounted the tales that in­spired his paintings, and from his descrip­tions, Herbert T. Schwarz has built an im­aginative collection of stories for readers, young and old alike. These are tales that will interest those already familiar with Indian lore as well as those discovering the Thunderbird or Manitou for the first time.

Herbert T. Schwarz

Born in England, Herbert T. Schwarz gradu­ated from Sheffield University Medical School and the University of London, then emigrated to Canada in 1950 at the age of twenty-eight. He taught first at Ottawa University Medical School, and in 1952 moved to Montreal to join the University Clinic of the Royal Vic­toria Hospital and the Donner Building for Medical Research at McGill University. He soon became fascinated by French-Canadian history and culture and in 1965, opened La Galerie Cartier, an antique shop in the an­cient residence of Jacques Viger, the first mayor of Montreal. A year later, while con­sultant to the Quebec Pavilion, Dr. Schwarz met the Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau, and this book began.

Norval Morrisseau

Born at Sand Point Indian Reserve on Lake Nipigon, Norval Morrisseau, whose tribal name is Copper Thunderbird, is descendant of Ojibway chiefs. Morrisseau is a self-taught artist, and he was discovered by the art dealer Jack Pollock who arranged his first show in 1962 at The Pollock Gallery in Toronto. 'Time' magazine (Canadian edition) commented about the event that "Few ex­hibits in Canadian art history have touched off a greater stir."

As well as being the single source of graphic expression of Ojibway legend and myth today, Norval Morrisseau is one of the few initiated members of the tribe who is willing to act as an interpreter of Indian learning and lore. The journals he kept were edited by Selwyn Dewdney and published in 1965 as Legends of My People: The Great Ojibway. When the artist met Dr. Schwarz, he was executing a sixteen-foot-high mural for the Indian Pavilion at Expo 67. They struck up an immediate friendship-which led to Dr. Schwarz's retelling of the Ojibway stories, and Norval Morrisseau's illustrations.

Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention - The Art Book - 1997

Shaman's Astral Journey in a Dream State
Norval Morrisseau
(Detail) - 1995

Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention
© 1997 by Norval Morrisseau/Kinsman Robinson Galleries
Key Porter Books Limited, ISBN: 1-55013-880-4

Legends of My People The Great Ojibway - Illustrated and told by Norval Morriseau - 1965

Legends of My People The Great Ojibway
Illustrated and told by Norval Morriseau
Edited by Selwyn Dewdney /© The Ryerson Press, 1965

In 1962, Norval Morrisseau met a Toronto artist-gallery owner Jack Pollock, who was teaching painting in northern Ontario. Pollock was so impressed with Morrisseau's paintings that he put on a solo exhibition of Morrisseau's work at his Toronto gallery. The show was an astonishing success; all the paintings sold out in one day.

This led to jealousy among tribal members who criticized Norval Morrisseau for revealing the tribe's legends and beliefs in the paintings. Since the paintings speak to the emotions but not in words, they may be based on legends and myths, but don't actually narrate anything.

Probably the cricitism stemmed mostly from Morrisseau's book "Legends of My People The Great Ojibway", edited by Selwyn Dewdeney - an art aducator and noted expert on Ojibway art and anthropology (Toronto, Ryerson Press, 1965). Morrisseau defended himself, saying he wanted to restore cultural pride to the largely catholicized people. Indeed, the visual vocabulary he developed has spoken powerfully to artistically inclined Ahishnaabe all over northern Ontario.

Norval Morrisseau 1971 Shaman Warrior

Untitled
Norval Morrisseau
51"x35" painted c. 1971
Collection of the National Gallery of Canada


Earth Mother With Her Children - Norval Morrisseau - 1967

Earth Mother With Her Children
Norval Morrisseau
Acrylic on cedar wood, 30ftx20ft, 1967

"The Indians of Canada bid you welcome. Walk in our moccasins the trail from our past. Live with us in the here and now. Talk with us by the fire of the days to come."

Visitors to the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo '67 were greeted and welcomed with the above sign. Montreal’s World’s Fair which coincided with Canada’s 100th birthday of Confederation hosted almost 100 foreign and local theme pavilions and is estimated to have attracted over 50 million visitors during the six months of operation. The fair was held from April 28 to October 27, 1967 on Ile. St. Helene and Ile Notre Dame.

The above painting on a cedar exterior wall of the Indians of Canada Pavilion was painted by Norval Morrisseau and his apprentice Carl Ray. On the bottom of the right hand corner Norval Morrisseau inscribed his dedication:

"In honour of my Grandfather Potan Nanakonagos and to our Ancestors"

Sources:
  • NORVAL MORRISSEAU AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE IMAGE MAKERS (page 22); ISBN: 0-458-97390-4, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984 /Methuen Publications/;
  • THE ART OF NORVAL MORRISSEAU (page 32) /Sinclair, Lister, Jack Pollock, and Norval Morrisseau/; ISBN: 0-458-93820-3 /Toronto, Ontario: Methuen, 1979./;
  • THE MORRISSEAU PAPERS: "An Inside Story" (page 42); ISBN: 978-0-9731567-3-7, 2007 /Perdida Press/
STARDREAMER NOTES: As a 10 year old I journeyed with my mother and sister from Thunder Bay to Montreal by Greyhound to experience Expo 67. I retain no memory of meeting Morrisseau or seeing his mural while there. I do however remember revellng in my first outdoor concert performed by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass and stepping into an American space capsule that remains seared in memory because I got to touch the burns on its hull from re-entry.

Norval Morrisseau... Just Be

Norval Morrisseau at Work

"I have always been attracted to religious paintings, but only the ones that had that mystical or supernatural quality in them, especially Saint Teresa by Bernini. Just looking at Saint Teresa I get some kind of vibrations from it. I can close my eyes and feel them. That's great art, and it brings on that tingling sexual feeling. Other saints, like Saint Sebastian, do that as well. But the Christ figure was always the one that was dominant for me.That's why I say that Christ to me is still the greatest shaman, and that is why some religious visions are so complex, and so very hard to explain to people. So whenever you are looking at my pictures, you are looking at my visions, whatever they may be."


Norval Morrisseau

UNDER THE SHAMAN'S DOME - Norval Morrisseau - 1980

UNDER THE SHAMAN'S DOME
Norval Morrisseau
78"x 62", acrylic on canvass, 1980
"Norval Morrisseau's courageous and often controversial approach to his work was instrumental in encouraging First Nations people to know their spirituality, history and culture in order to better understand themselves. He taught us to be proud of who we are. He inspired countless other First Nations people to pursue a career in the arts. His legacy will remain with us and continue to inspire all Canadians for many generations to come."


Phil Fontaine
Assembly of First Nations National Chief

Saturday 24 April 2010

NORVAL MORRISSEAU: ISLANDS WITHIN - by Denese Izzard 2005

NORVAL MORRISSEAU: ISLANDS WITHIN

From Thunder Bay, Manitoulin Island, Toronto, Jasper Alberta, Santa Fe, Vancouver to Nanaimo, Canada's national treasure, Norval Morrisseau born to power of place, found the power to be.

Starting his venturesome life at Sandy Lake Reserve (born in Fort William, now Thunder Bay), the man known as father of "The Woodland School of Art" knew as a child that he was on a mission not to lose his people's culture. The artist's way would preserve it, defying tribal taboos against revealing sacred tales to the outside world.

Mother Ojibway, father Métis, Morrisseau was raised in traditional manner by maternal grandparents. A medicine woman gave him the protective name, his now famous signature "Copper Thunderbird."

Later like lightning before rumbling thunder, Norval would wield his paint brush on plywood panels, brown wrapping paper, and birchbark scrolls, making images come alive from stories passed down from shaman to shaman for thousands of years, told to him by his own grandfather, Shaman Moses "Potan" Nanakonagos, sixth generation Ojibway.

Throughout his career, Norval would dream dreams and have visions. His astral travels took him to the House of Invention, his source of inspiration for both content and colour. There he learned that ions and electrons were an underlying force that radiated from a colourful palette - that colour therapy can cure people. With ancients as guides telling him that heaven is "as above, so below," images were brought through him and out of him. Yet he felt he was only an instrument.

Morrisseau's art continued to reveal original designs and illuminate history with new information. "My art speaks and will continue to speak, transcending barriers of nationality, language and other forces that may be divisive, fortifying the greatness of the spirit that has always been the foundation of the Ojibwa people."

In the 1950s, working in a gold mine in Cochenour, struggling to sell his work at the Fergie McDougal General Store, the artist was discovered by Dr. Joseph and Esther Weinstein. Amazed by Morrisseau's talent, they bought everything he painted while he was still employed at the gold mine. Then in 1962 art dealer Jack Pollock paid a visit to Beardmore, Ontario. Overwhelmed by Norval's canvases, an exhibit was planned for his Toronto gallery. A huge sensation, the show sold out.

A few years later Norval's "Sacred Buffalo Worshippers" graced Calgary's Glenbow Museum, drawing rave reviews. It was unlike any art work that had been done before.

SACRED BUFFALO WORSHIPPERS
 35"X52", c. 1964

One of Canada's most accomplished painters, Morrisseau has exhibited throughout North America, France, Germany and Norway. In 1989 he was the only Canadian painter invited to exhibit at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris to mark the bicentennial of the French Revolution. A member of the Order of Canada and the Royal Canadian Academy of Art, Norval Morrisseau holds the eagle feather, the highest honour awarded by the Assembly of First Nations.

Morriseau also caught the attention of the greats. Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall attended a show of his works at a solo exhibition at the Galerie St. Paul, in St. Paul-de-Vence, France (1969), where Chagall remarked, "Norval Morrisseau's work bears the hallmark of a Picasso of the north." A clear reference to the originality of the work and its break from hidebound precedents that had characterized native North American art.

All considered, the mid-1980s were a difficult time for Canada's world famous artist who, after a failed business attempt, ended up on the streets of Vancouver.

In 1987 he met Canadian-born Hungarian Gabor Vadas, a remarkable young man, who helped him to get back on track. Said Morrisseau, "He's the son I've been dreaming about for 20 years." He also became the artist's muse. Then Vadas met future French-Acadian wife, Michele. By the time sons Robin and Kyle arrived, Norval had a built-in family. In White Rock, living in a 2-storey home, Gabe built an artist's studio with skylights, stained glass door, and deck facing the waterfront. These years resulted in some of his best work.

The internationally acclaimed painter has exhibited throughout North America, France, Germany and Norway. Internationally recognized at age 73, Norval Morrisseau is bound for immortality.

Today his life fully lived, he resides in a Nanaimo carehome, relatively comfortable after a stroke and Parkinson's Disease confined him to a wheelchair. The Vadas' spend most every day with the nation's artistic treasure - going for drives in the country, walks on the sea wall, or at their home.

Artistic royalty, nearly iconic, Morrisseau sits stoically in a large leather recliner, TV on. Not wanting to lean into his space, the writer kneels, dares to touch the hand of the Grand Shaman of the Ojibway. His deep brown eyes darken, rest on the stranger. Breaking the spell, Michele places a cup of coffee on his sidetable and sits down, opening an impressive album of Norval Morriseau paintings, vital to the screenplay she's working on.
 
Featured on a wall is another dynamic work portraying "The Family" - Norval, Gabe, Michele and Robin. Michele says, "I wouldn't sell this painting for anything."

THE FAMILY
c. 1990s

Years ago Robert and Signe McMichael, founders of the McMichael Collection at Kleinburg, Ontario, invited Morrisseau to stay in Tom Tomson's cabin on their property. Michele recalls, "Before he died, McMichael said he believed that when Canada 'disappears,' Morrisseau will remain. I believe history will note that Norval will be better known than Picasso. He's more original."

Denese Izzard
Gabriola SOUNDER
March 2005

Thunderbird Fish - Norval Morrisseau - 1969


Thunderbird Fish
Norval Morrisseau
1969
I AM AN INDIAN
1969
BY J. M. Dent & Sons

This book was the first anthology of Indian literature published in Canada. It had been written and illustrated by men and women who are called Indians, but who think of themselves as Sioux or Salish, Ojibway or Delaware, Abnakis or Assiniboine. Here is a glimpse into an Indian world - a world of wars and treaties, honour and treachery, wealth and degradation. Indian stories, songs, and poems from all areas of Canada have been included so that others may enjoy some of the fun that is Blackfoot fun, meet some of the heroes that are Cree heroes, and learn some of the wisdom that is Kwakiutl wisdom.

The reader will be able to find out about some of Canada's Indian "rebels" from the "inside". He will be able to share the experiences of a young Assiniboine boy whose parents both die violently in a tragic set of circumstances uniquely Canadian. Included, too, is the story of the young Okanagan who became Canada's first Indian Member of Parliament.

The Indian people here offer to share the experi­ences and thoughts of their Canada - too long neglected - and which form a vital part of the heri­tage rightfully belonging to all who call themselves Canadians.

The upper picture, "Canadian Geese", is by Francis Kagige (Ojibway for "Forever"), a self-taught Odawa Indian from Manitoulin Island, Ontario.

The lower picture, "Thunderbird Fish", is by Norval Morriseau, whose Indian name is Copper Thunderbird. Mr. Morriseau is an Ojibway, born and raised in the area northwest of Lake Superior.

Children of Mother Earth - Norval Morrisseau - 1979

Children of Mother Earth
Norval Morrisseau
40" x40" acrylic on round canvass paintings, c. 1979


The Art of Norval Morrisseau In Porcelain

Limited edition series of four collector's plates entitled Children of Mother Earth were comprised of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The set (Edition of 2500; each plate is 9 3/4" DIA) was based on Norval Morrisseau's designs produced in Germany (1983) by Anna-Perrenna, from the very finest Rosenthal porcelain. Each plate have original satin lined box, certificate of authenticity and were individually signed by Norval Morrisseau. There is also a booklet that came with the set, called "The Art of Norval Morrisseau In Porcelain.

Jo-Go Way Moose Dream - Norval Morrisseau - 1964

Jo-Go Way Moose Dream
Norval Morrisseau
Egg Tempera on paper - c.1964

Morrisseau recreates the story of a dream of an Ojibway named Luke Onanakongos (Jo-Go Way)
"In dreams of my youth, my spirit dwelled inside a huge moose, and I was protected from hardships of this earth. In middle life, the moose discharged my spirit from his body and it became one with my earthly self. The moose told me to purify myself spiritually and I did this for a time. Finally, in my old age, I rebelled and left forever the dream that pulled me toward that era."

Norval Morrisseau

White Man's Curse - Norval Morrisseau - 1969

White Man's Curse
Norval Morrisseau
50"x40" - 1969
"We natives believe in the following saying: "Our God is Native. The Great Deity of the Five Planes is so. We are neither for nor against, We speak not of Christ nor of God. We say, 'Let them be. 'We follow the Spirit on its Inward Journey of Soul through attitudes and attentions. Remember we are all in a big School and the Inner Master teaches us Experience over many Lifetimes."


Norval Morrisseau

Onaman Legend - Norval Morrisseau - 1978

Onaman Legend
Norval Morrisseau
1978

"I am Norval Morrisseau and my Indian name is Copper Thunderbird. I am a born artist. A few people are born artists and most others are not, and it is the same with the Indians. I have grown up with many stories and legends of my people, the great Ojibway Indians, and I have made paintings of these legends, although very few people have yet seen them. I believe each painting would be worth exhibiting in a gallery."


Norval Morrisseau

Stories from the Seventh Fire - Norval Morrisseau's Animated Series 1999

Stories from the Seventh Fire
© 1999 Storytellers Productions Inc.

This series is the superb achievement of a unique and powerful collaboration. Gifted Native North American artists, animators, storytellers, actors and filmmakers have lovingly produced these animated legends for our new era, for all to share. World-renowned Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau’s paintings come alive with beautiful animations of Wesakechack, and the legends are narrated by actor and storyteller Tantoo Cardinal.
  • DVD 1: Spring - The First Spring Flood; Legend of the Giant Beaver:
  • DVD 2: Summer - How Wesakechak Got His Name; Legend of the Caribou ;
  • DVD 3: Autumn - Wesakechak and the Medicine ; Legend of the First Thanksgiving;
  • DVD 4: Winter - Why the Rabbit Turns White; Legend of the Spirit Bear.
Teachers Guides
Awards:
  • Best Animation at the 2003 Japan Wildlife Festival,
  • Merit Award for Children's Animation at the 2003 International Wildlife Festival,
  • Best Animation at the 2003 Yorkton Short Film Festival,
  • Best Program for Children at the Telenatura 2002 Awards (Pamplona, Spain).

Family of Birds - Norval Morrisseau - 1968

Family of Birds
Norval Morrisseau
 © 1968

Indian Overpowers Bear Spirit - Norval Morrisseau - 1970s

Indian Overpowers Bear Spirit
Norval Morrisseau
 © 1970s

Indian Overpowers Bear Spirit
 (Artist's description)

METAMORPHOSIS - Norval Morrisseau - 1980s

METAMORPHOSIS
Norval Morrisseau
 c. 1980s
"My Grandfather told me once that nobody, no matter how hard they tried, could he remember all of the legends, otherwise, the whole of Northwestern Ontario would be covered in Pictographs."


Norval Morrisseau

Turtle Island - Norval Morrisseau - 1980s

Turtle Island
Norval Morrisseau
c. 1980s

"I only wish to repeat a few words that this gentleman says and what he is afraid to say. For us to be all in here in this environment, I guess that's what I am saying, I'm just like a real estate broker selling pieces of the environment... which we all need when we safeguard the environment... But the colors... Otherwise let me put it this way: 'If Toronto was able to accept this color for a building, and all these colors of buildings it would be a much better vibration..."


Norval Morrisseau
speaking at an exhibition opening

Water Legend by Norval Morrisseau - 1979

Water Legend
Norval Morrisseau
 36 x 48 - Acrylic on canvass, 1979

"Nepii-Naba, the merman, who brought good luck to those who offered him tobacco and, in return, helped Indians to travel safely on lakes and rivers"


Norval Morrisseau

Norval Morrisseau on recorded History


"I’ve been looking for books all my life books about American Indians. Anything that I could find that was civil and worthwhile besides what my Grandfather was telling me about the Iroquois and others. There isn’t very much written about Natives in the art and history books we read today. The only thing that was written was about the Iroquois slaughtering the Jesuits somewhere and Sitting Bull and his followers being chased out of Canada."
Norval Morrisseau

Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France - Norval Morrisseau Exhibition - 1969


Norval Morrisseau at Work - 1979 - Alvo Art, Toronto

Morrisseau at work
 in his basement studio at Alvo Indian Art in 1979
where Stardreamer received his Indian name and began his apprenticeship.

"I was told by some relatives not to do this - that I should not be tampering with these forms, 'because the Indians will ostracize you'. Or the elders would not care for it, just like the Jesuits. Nevertheless I was determined to do it, for it is my destiny..."


Norval Morrisseau

Healing through Colour - Shaman Artist - Norval Morrisseau

Observations of the Astral World
Norval Morrisseau
c. 1994 - acrylic on canvas - 236 x 514 x 4 cm

Healing through Colour - Shaman Artist - Norval Morrisseau
I had the opportunity to visit the Norval Morrisseau art exhibit last week in Ottawa at the National Gallery of Canada. I was intrigued and inspired as I learned Norval’s story through his art. Last year I was introduced to Norval’s art while visiting a friend. The rich brilliant colours of his art captivated me. He paints with deep contrasting colours and thick lines, with each stroke telling a story about his Ojibway culture and his struggle to embrace his path.

Norval is a storyteller and Shaman. In his book "Return to the House of Invention" the artist talks about his intention of awakening people’s psychic ability through his painting. On his many shamanic journeys to the "House of Invention", he learned about the use of colour as a means of healing. Norval’s perception is that the world is a dark place and his art is an attempt to brighten up the world by expressing colour.

Recently while traveling I noticed in the airport that almost everyone in the section I was sitting in had on black. I was returning from a tropical place to mid-winter in Canada, however it felt like a rude awakening to the reality we live in. As I walked through the exhibit I noticed Norval’s paintings getting brighter and brighter, with more and more colour being expressed.

I was profoundly affected by Norval's story and his art. It captured my imagination, and I felt my soul touched by the rich contrasting colours that he uses. Norval is Canada's first native artist to share the beliefs, customs and rituals of his people (Ojibway). He was criticised by his own people for revealing this sacred information, however followed the guidance of his helping Spirits. His story is an example of the struggle of walking the 'razor's edge' that those walking a Shamanic path often encounter.

Martha

Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist at the IAIA Museum in Sante Fe

Artist And Shaman Between Two Worlds
Norval Morrisseau
acrylic on canvas, 69½" x 112", c. 1980
 
This important retrospective was the National Gallery of Canada’s first solo exhibition of a First Nations artist in its hundred and twenty-seven-year history until now, it has reserved solo shows for dead European masters the likes of Renoir and Picasso. In an art world that classifies indigenous work as "craft" and relegates it to anthropology museums, this show symbolically recognizes the paintings of Norval Morrisseau (Ojibwe) as fine art on the level of those European masters. Fortunately, this exhibition has stopped in Santa Fe en route to the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian.
 
What makes Morrisseau a master is not the somewhat crude way he applies paint to canvas. Using acrylic colors straight out of the tub, he paints with fingers or wide brushes at a speed that has allowed him to be greatly prolific—some 10,000 works are said to exist, along with numerous fakes, since his style is easily copied. However, those colors pull the viewer into the fascinating parallel universe that Morrisseau inhabits, where humans shapeshift into animal and spirit forms.

Morrisseau’s grandfather initiated him into the ways of the shaman through ritual, storytelling, and vision quests. The artist’s representation of Ojibwe legends breaks two taboos: first, of disclosing Native secrets; second, of altering them in his reinterpretation. Confronting these taboos and others (his famed erotic imagery is all but absent from the show) gives his paintings an edgy, voodooesque quality of extraordinary power.
 
Another key to that power is his use of heavy black lines that swell and diminish in a continuous gesture, defining forms and connecting them, creating a sense of compositional and metaphorical unity. Heavy lines are an Ojibwe technique that Morrisseau reinvents, portraying humans in cartoony caricature with buggy yellow eyes, beaked noses, and pincer-like lips. Morrisseau’s design elements distill the vocabulary and motifs of First Nations’ art and translate them into a unique contemporary expression.

This show, which spans the years 1958 to 2002, traces the evolution of Morrisseau’s style. In the early days he experimented with materials such as gouache and oil paint on surfaces like birchbark and stone. We see his lines grow from thin to thick and color areas resolve from messy to clear. By the 1966 piece Thunderbird and Snake, his style is already a signature, complete with the bugged eyes and his "X-ray vision" inside bodies. However, his palette is restricted to earth tones through the sixties and early seventies, as shown in a series of portraits of animal spirits and Catholic icons. The 1974 pieceIndian Jesus Christ depicts a crucified Indian whose fingerless hands are open wounds that echo his wild eyes, serving both to criticize the white man’s treatment of the Indian and reveal Morrisseau’s own tormented embrace of Christianity. When the artist suffered from a lifethreatening illness at age nineteen, a medicine woman revived him with a ceremony in which she gave him the powerful name "Copper Thunderbird." Man Changing into Thunderbird, a six-panel piece from 1977, is a progressive portrait of the artist’s transformation into a thunderbird.

The first panel shows the torso of a copper-skinned man surrounded by small birds. He sprouts first one wing and then the other, then talons for feet, growing ever more psychedelic until the last panel is a thunderbird resplendent in turquoise and a panoply of jeweled colors, with the smaller birds hidden under its wings and absorbed as eyes.

During the eighties, Morrisseau settled on acrylic on canvas and incorporated ever-brighter colors into his work. But this was a period of great personal turmoil, with reports surfacing that he was living on the streets of Toronto, trading paintings for bottles of booze. Only one piece from this decade is included, Artist and Shaman Between Two Worlds, in which a bird sprouts from the head of the artist, whose multicolored eyes betray an inner torment also evoked by random streaks of blue and pink in the background and the appearance of ghostly hooded figures.

In the nineties, Morrisseau returned to the studio, creating the most striking paintings of his career in intensely bright, almost neon colors.
 
The exhibition culminates in the circa 1994 masterwork Observations of the Astral World, which is nearly eight by seventeen feet. Humans morph into birds and fish fly, as two worlds of beings meet before a tree of life. The juxtaposition of electric colors makes the painting pulse and vibrate, playing tricks on your eyes, sucking you into the world of trance and vision.
 
Don’t miss the exhibition’s 1974 film, which offers a glimpse into a life that despite Morrisseau’s early success has been no picnic. The artist has fought battles with TB, alcoholism, and mental illness. He was badly burned in a hotel fire, after which he had a vision of Jesus and converted to Christianity. Although his wife Harriet bore him seven children, he was largely absent from his family. Morrisseau, now seventy-five, lives in fragile health in an assisted living facility.
 
Clearly, however, art has been a great source of strength and personal redemption for him. The vibrant colors of his later pieces impart a sense of spiritual joy. If a shaman is an intermediary between the material and spiritual world, then Norval Morrisseau is a shaman through the act of painting. As he wrote, "I say to the shaman, ‘I too came into this world to beautify the world with color.’"
 
Kristin Barendsen
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
AUGUST 2 0 0 7 THE MAGAZINE

Mystical Figure with Bird and Fish - Norval Morrisseau

Mystical Figure with Bird and Fish
Norval Morrisseau
39"x31", acrylic on card, 1975
"I paint with these colours to heal, my paintings honour the Anishnaabe ancestors who have roamed the Great Lakes for centuries upon centuries."


Norval Morrisseau

Shaman Talking to Animals - Norval Morrisseau

Shaman Talking to Animals
Norval Morrisseau
1990s

"Just as a fish swims in any clear northern lake (in a medium that is virtually invisible to the eye) so we, if we are to live all right, should realize we live in a dimension on which our very existence, as people and artists, depends. The dimension is that of connectivity in life shared together in mutual respect. Fish, in spawning runs, seem to urge each other on, to reach safe and secluded lakes, with plentiful food supplies. Once there, they can live more non-competitively."


Norval Morrisseau

Victoria and Family - Norval Morrisseau 1978

Victoria and Family
Norval Morrisseau
59"x39" -  1978
"Now, when I paint a picture I just alow myself to be used. I pick up the pencil and the canvas. I allow the interaction with soul to reflect in the mind, to put down these images of people, men or women or children especially. I may draw a hundred children, but there is never the same colour."


Norval Morrisseau

Warrior with Thunderbirds - Norval Morrisseau - 1973

Warrior with Thunderbirds
Norval Morrisseau
47 1/2"x47",1973
"My goal is to break the barrier between the white world and mine. I wish only one thing, to be an artist and to be respected as one - and my paintings to be seen by all people."


Norval Morrisseau

Tormented Thunderbird - Norval Morrisseau

Tormented Thunderbird
Norval Morrisseau
32"x47" - 1973
"When the Jesuits came, the Indian was already around. The Indian did not understand them. He tried to understand them, what they were up to. He knew that they were going to be there for awhile. He knew how sad it was, seeing his people, how low they were put, how they had previously enjoyed living and needed to live freely again. How do we go about doing that now? We need images. We’re going to use images ourselves."


Norval Morrisseau

Nature's Balance - Norval Morrisseau 1975

Nature's Balance
Norval Morrisseau
73"x48",1975

"I now believe in peaceful coexistence with myself," as he stood in front of his Nature's Balance, a vibrant interplay of birds, fishes and snakes. "If I had the money and was buying Indian art, this is what I would have on my wall."

Norval Morrisseau
Statement for Time Magazine
August 25, 1975

Artist and His Four Wives - Norval Morrisseau 1975

Artist and His Four Wives
Norval Morrisseau
Acrylic on canvas - 43"x131", 1975

"The major piece (priced at $6,000) is the Artist and His Four Wives, based on a vision ("clear as a TV picture") that came to Morrisseau as he agonized over a breakup with his wife, Harriet, mother of his seven children. Rejecting the self-image of a wandering husband, he projected himself as a 16th century brave, surrounded by others willing to fill void in his personal life."

Jon Anderson
Time Magazine
 August 25, 1975

Multiple Transfiguration by Norval Morrisseau

Multiple Transfiguration
Norval Morrisseau
 late 1980s
"I want my work to be a cornerstone for Indian art, to provide something that will last."

Norval Morrisseau

Frolicking Astral Images by Norval Morrisseau

Frolicking Astral Images
Norval Morrisseau
1990s
"These paintings only remind you that you're an Indian. Inside somewhere, we're all Indians. So now when I befriend you, I'm trying to get the best Indian, bring out the Indianness in you to make you think everything is sacred."


Norval Morrisseau

Adam and Eve and the Serpent - Norval Morrisseau 1974

Adam and Eve and the Serpent
Norval Morrisseau
acrylic on card, 39.75"x31.5", 1974
They speak about this tortured man, me, but I'm not. I've had a marvelous time, when I was drinking and now that I'm not, a marvelous time in my life."


Norval Morrisseau in 1978

Loon Totemic Spirit and Grebes with Human - Norval Morrisseau

Loon Totemic Spirit and Grebes with Human
Norval Morrisseau
Original serigraph on Arches paper - Edition: 60, 29 3/4''x35'', 1976


 "I don't wish my work to be exploited, but to be properly used as an art form in its proper place where for the generations of the great Ojibway people it can be seen in the future, as well as be appreciated by all our white brothers."


Norval Morrisseau

Sunshine - Norval Morrisseau

Sunshine
Norval Morrisseau
 c. 1980s
"I've always wanted to be a role model. I've always wanted to stay an Indian. I wanted the little kids to know that."

Norval Morrisseau

Authentic Norval Morrisseau Art - 1971

Untitled
Norval Morrisseau
21"x27", 1971
...........
Dad met Norval Morrisseau while he was incarcerated and had a good relationship with him. Morrisseau was given a separate cell where he could create his paintings of "Mother Earth and her creatures". Dad would make sure he had paper, paint, pencils for his creative talents to put to use. Dad was rewarded by Morrisseau by giving him a painting completed on particle board. He glued toilet paper to the board to give it texture and we hold this prized possession in our home to this day...............

Rick Zabloski
Rick's father, John Zabloski, assisted Morrisseau in Kenora, Ontario in 1971
This excerpt recounts the experience.

Man Changing into Thunderbird - Panel Six of Six - Norval Morrisseau 1977

Man Changing into Thunderbird
Norval Morrisseau
(Panel 5 of 6) - 1977 - Acrylic on Canvass - 60" x 50"
"These paintings only remind you that you're an Indian. Inside somewhere, we're all Indians. So now when I befriend you, I'm trying to get the best Indian, bring out the Indianness in you to make you think everything is sacred."


Norval Morrisseau