“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.” ~ Norval Morrisseau
Norval Morrisseau Artwork Currently for Sale
Norval Morrisseau Artwork
Norval Morrisseau, Untitled
acrylic on canvas, 24 in x 30 in, signed recto.
SOLD
Norval Morrisseau, 1982, Water Watcher
acrylic on canvas, 20 in x 30 in, signed recto, titled and dated verso.
SOLD
Norval Morrisseau, Untitled (Flowers and Birds),
acrylic on canvas, 30 in x 24 in, signed recto.
SOLD
Norval Morrisseau
Norval Morrisseau is considered one of the most important and original artists Canada has produced. The founder of the Woodland School of Art, he has been referred to as a prominent member of the group of 7 first nations artists and the Picasso of the north.
Morrisseau was a self -taught painter, printmaker and illustrator. Morrisseau applied his spirituality and mysticism to the iconography of traditional first nations myths and legends (and later incorporated Christian themes) to create a new style of art in Canada.
Born in the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek culture, Morrisseau was raised by his maternal grandmother (a Catholic) and grandfather, a shaman that passed the oral history and stories to his grandson, that later became the narrative for his art. Painting in brilliant neon-like colours ( which Morrisseau believed could heal ) within the borders of black outlines Morrisseau painted the spirits, animals and legends of the Ojibwa, as well as painting the visions in what Morrisseau described as dream states.
Holland Cotter, reviewer for the New York Times described his art as “visionary, sometimes violent, as much about fearfulness as about transcendence.”
A show in 1962 at the Pollock Gallery in Toronto (the first indigenous artist to be exhibited in a contemporary gallery in Canada) marked a turning point in his career, bringing fame and exhibitions nationally and internationally.
Collections:
Tate Modern London
National Galleries of Scotland
Museum of Modern Art, NY
Detroit Institute of Arts
Art Institute, Chicago
National Museum of the American Indian
Royal Ontario Museum
Montreal Museum of Modern Art
Musee des Beaux Art, Quebec City
Glenbow Museum, Calgary
McMichael Art Gallery, Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Vancouver Art Gallery, British Colombia
McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Ontario
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Canadian Museum of History
National Gallery of Canada
Solo Exhibitions of Norval Morrisseau:
2006 The National Gallery, Ottawa Canada,
Norval Morrisseau, Shaman Artist
Steffich Fine Art, Salt Spring Island, BC,
Norval Morrisseau : Pictorial Legends
2002 Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Evolution: Four Decades of Work by Norval Morrisseau
2001 Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon, Manitoba
Norval Morrisseau: The Red Lake Years
1999 Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Toronto, Ontario
Norval Morrisseau, Bridging the Past to the Future
Norval Morrisseau: New Works on Paper
1997 Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Toronto, Ontario
Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention
1994 Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Toronto, Ontario
Honouring First Nations – Norval Morrisseau
1992 Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Toronto, Ontario
The Spirit Within: Early Paintings by Norval Morrisseau
Jenkins/Showler Galleries, Whiterock, British Columbia
1991 Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Toronto, Ontario
Norval Morrisseau
Wallack Galleries, Ottawa, Ontario
1990 Kinsman Robinson Galleries Toronto, Ontario
Norval Morrisseau:The Shaman’s Return
1989 The Art Emporium, Vancouver, British Columbia
1988 Sinclair Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia
1987 Gulf Canada Gallery, Alberta
1984 Ontario North Now, Ontario Place, Toronto, Ontario
Library AA Gallery, Brampton, Ontario
1983 Art Imperial Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Native American Centre for the Living Arts, Niagara Falls, N.Y., USA
Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art
Thunder Bay, Ontario Norval Morrisseau: Recent Work
1982 Robertson Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario
Norval Morrisseau
The New Man Gallery, London, Ontario
Nexus Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Moore Gallery Ltd., Hamilton, Ontario
Masters Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
Scarborough Public Library, Ontario
Legacy Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1981 Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Anthony’s Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia
Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art
Thunder Bay, Ontario
1978 Canadian Galleries, Edmonton, Alberta
Bayard Gallery, New York, N.Y, USA
1979 Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Oakville Centennial, Gairloch Galleries, Oakville, Ontario
The Gallery Stratford, Stratford, Ontario
Cardigan-Milne Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1978 First Canadian Place, Toronto, Ontario
1977 The Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Norval Morrisseau, Copper Thunderbird – Man Who Became a Thunderbird
Graphic Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
1976 Pollock Gallery Toronto, Ontario
Oakville Centennial Gairloch Galleries, Oakville, Ontario
1975 Shayne Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Gallery 115, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1974 Beau-xi Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1972 Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
Retrospective
1969 Norval Morrisseau: Peintre indien du Grand Nord Canadien
Gallerie Saint-Paul, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
1967 Musée du Quebec, Quebec City, Quebec
Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
La Galerie Cartier, Montreal, Quebec
1965 Galerie Agnes Lefort, Montreal, Quebec
Images Du Folklore Indien – Norval Morrisseau, An Ojibway Artist
Hart House Gallery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
1964 Red Door Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
1962-63 Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario