Norval Morrisseau
Eastern Woodland Style
"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."
BIG IDEA:
Shape: circles above human, circles in the sky, divided circles, circles within the body
Colour: bold
X-Ray: inner human spirit and animal guide, offspring, organs, spines & ribs, food eaten
Born: 1932 - Sandy Point, Reserve, Ontario, Canada
Died: 2007 - Toronto, Ontorio, Canada
Known for: Modernist Indian figurative motif painting and drawing
Name variants: Copper Thunderbird
An Objibwa/Chippewa shaman, Norval Morrisseau was one of the first native Canadians to adopt modernist* styles that conveyed traditional aboriginal imagery. "His style, which became known as Woodland* or Legend painting, evoked ancient etching from birch-bark scrolls and often used X-ray like motifs: skeletal elements and internal organs visible within the forms of animals and people, and black spirit lines emanating from them." He used saturated, startling colors described by a curator of the National Gallery of Canada as appearing "to vibrate under the viewer's gaze."
"These paintings only remind you that you're an Indian. Inside somewhere, we're all Indians,” the self-taught artist once said. “So now when I befriend you, I'm trying to get the best Indian, bring out that Indianness in you to make you think that everything is sacred.”
- Students will look at art pieces created by Norval Morrisseau and discuss the features of his paintings. The goal is for students to discuss the following features:
Shape: circles above human, circles in the sky, divided circles, circles within the body
Colour: bold
X-Ray: inner human spirit and animal guide, offspring, organs, spines & ribs, food eaten
- Students will than create a work influenced by Norval Morrisseau using colored paper and oil pastels
Born: 1932 - Sandy Point, Reserve, Ontario, Canada
Died: 2007 - Toronto, Ontorio, Canada
Known for: Modernist Indian figurative motif painting and drawing
Name variants: Copper Thunderbird
An Objibwa/Chippewa shaman, Norval Morrisseau was one of the first native Canadians to adopt modernist* styles that conveyed traditional aboriginal imagery. "His style, which became known as Woodland* or Legend painting, evoked ancient etching from birch-bark scrolls and often used X-ray like motifs: skeletal elements and internal organs visible within the forms of animals and people, and black spirit lines emanating from them." He used saturated, startling colors described by a curator of the National Gallery of Canada as appearing "to vibrate under the viewer's gaze."
"These paintings only remind you that you're an Indian. Inside somewhere, we're all Indians,” the self-taught artist once said. “So now when I befriend you, I'm trying to get the best Indian, bring out that Indianness in you to make you think that everything is sacred.”