I wish to express my gratitude to the editors and staff of the Art Canada Institute for their unwavering support of this book. Sara Angel’s enthusiasm and dedication to bringing this project to a close has been especially impressive. I also want to thank wholeheartedly Lucy Kenward, my editor, with whom it was an absolute pleasure to work. Any errors or shortcomings in this book are my responsibility.
Without the generous support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the University of Regina President’s Fund, and the University of Regina’s Humanities Research Institute, the research for this book would not have been possible. I wish also to thank my diligent research assistants, Leisha Grebinski, Bridget Keating, Lydia Miliokas, Caitlyn Jean McMillan, Caitlin Mullan, and Ashton Wiebe. Friends, colleagues, mentors, faculty, and students at the First Nations University of Canada, the University of Regina and beyond deserve my thanks. I am grateful also to the members of the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society for their encouragement.
Special thanks goes to my family. My daughters, Dagmar and Madelaine, continually inspire me with their zest for life and I thank them for this. To Mark, my husband, words don’t really cut it but thanks for keeping it real. I come from a line of strong Lakota women and I need to thank my grandmother Jean Paquin and my mother, Collette Robertson, for instilling in me their spirit and tenacity. It comes in handy.
From the Art Canada Institute
This online art book was made possible thanks to BMO Financial Group, Lead Sponsor for the Canadian Online Art Book Project.
Much gratitude goes to the Title Sponsor for this publication: TD Bank Group.
The Art Canada Institute gratefully acknowledges the other sponsors for the 2015–16 Season: Aimia, Consignor Canadian Fine Art, Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc., the Hal Jackman Foundation, K. James Harrison, and Sandra L. Simpson.
Thanks also to the Art Canada Institute Founding Patrons: Sara and Michael Angel, Jalynn H. Bennett, the Butterfield Family Foundation, David and Vivian Campbell, Albert E. Cummings, Kiki and Ian Delaney, the Fleck Family, Roger and Kevin Garland, the Gershon Iskowitz Foundation, The Scott Griffin Foundation, Michelle Koerner and Kevin Doyle, Phil Lind, Sarah and Tom Milroy, Nancy McCain and Bill Morneau, Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan, Sandra L. Simpson, Pam and Mike Stein, and Robin and David Young; as well as its Founding Partner Patrons: The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Partners in Art.
The ACI gratefully acknowledges the support and assistance of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (Kevin Gibbs, Danielle Shrestha, and Danielle Printup); the Art Gallery of Ontario (Jim Shedden); Canadian Museum of History (Erin Gurski and Vincent Lafond); Christian Chapman; Edward P. Taylor Library & Archives (Donald Rance); Glenbow Museum (Lia Melemenis); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Dr. Sarah Stanners, Janine Butler, and Ki-in Wong); Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Marie-Claude Saia); National Film Board of Canada (Ragnhild Milewski); National Gallery of Canada (Kristin Rothschild, Raven Amiro, and Erica Dole); and Thunder Bay Art Gallery (Meaghan Eley).
Image Sources
Every effort has been made to secure permissions for all copyrighted material. The Art Canada Institute will gladly correct any errors or omissions.
Credits for Banner Images
Biography: Norval Morrisseau, 1975. (See below for details.)
Key Works: Norval Morrisseau, Observations of the Astral World, c. 1994. (See below for details.)
Significance & Critical Issues: Norval Morrisseau, Artist and Shaman between Two Worlds, 1983. (See below for details.)
Style & Technique: Norval Morrisseau, The Gift, 1975. (See below for details.)
Sources & Resources: Norval Morrisseau, Jo-Go Way Moose Dream, c. 1964. (See below for details.)
Where to See: Installation view of Norval Morrisseau’s Man Changing into Thunderbird, 1977, at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 2015.
Credits for Works by Norval Morrisseau
Adam and Eve and the Serpent, 1974. Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Helen E. Band Collection.
Ancestors Performing the Ritual of the Shaking Tent, c. 1958–61. Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau. This acquisition was made possible by a contribution from the government of Canada under the terms of the Emergency Purchase Fund (III-G-1045).
Androgyny, 1983. Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Gatineau (306400 A-D). Photograph by Lawrence Cook.
Artist and Shaman between Two Worlds, 1980. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (no. 41869).
Artist in Union with Mother Earth, 1972. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (no. 42476).
Artist’s Wife and Daughter, c. 1975. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario (1981.87.1).
The Gift, 1975. Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Helen E. Band Collection.
Impressionist Thunderbirds, 1975. Richard H. Baker Collection.
Indian Erotic Fantasy, n.d. Private collection.
Indian Jesus Christ, 1974. Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Gatineau (151957). Photograph by Lawrence Cook.
Jo-Go Way Moose Dream, c. 1964. Collection of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary (64.37.6).
Man and Snake, c. 1964. Collection of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary.
Man Changing into Thunderbird, 1977. Private collection. Photograph courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Man Changing into Thunderbird (detail), 1977. Private collection. Photograph courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Man Changing into Thunderbird (detail), 1977. Private collection. Photograph courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Migration, 1973. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. Gift from the Estate of Dr. Bernhard Cinader (2001.168.340).
Mishupishu, n.d. Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Gatineau, Selwyn Dewdney Fonds (A-306079). Photograph by Lawrence Cook.
Moose Dream Legend, 1962. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Gift of Procter and Gamble Co. of Canada, Ltd., 1964 (no. 63/ 54).
Observations of the Astral World, c. 1994. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (no. 41338).
Ojibway Shaman Figure, 1975. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Gift of Freda and Irwin Browns (2006.23).
Phallic God in Disguise, 1972. Private collection.
Sacred Buffalo, c. 1963. University of Lethbridge Art Collection.
Self-Portrait Devoured by Demons, 1964. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Purchase with assistance from Wintario, 1979 (no. 79/71).
Shaman and Disciples, 1979. McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario (1979.34.7).
The Storyteller: The Artist and His Grandfather, 1978. Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Gatineau (151805 A-B). Photograph by Lawrence Cook.
Susan, 1983. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (no. 41930).
Transmigration of the Human Soul into Another Existence, 1972–73. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (no. 42196).
Untitled (Shaman Traveller to Other Worlds for Blessings), c. 1990. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (no. 41852).
Untitled (Thunderbird Transformation), c. 1958–60. Weinstein Collection, Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau (III-G-1099).
Untitled (Two Bull Moose), 1965. Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Gift of Carl Bogglid.
Untitled, c. 1958. Weinstein Collection, Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau (III-G-1370).
Water Spirit, 1972. Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau (III-G-1102).
Credits for Photographs and Works by Other Artists
Birchbark basket, Anishnaabe/Ojibwa. Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau (III-G-250 a-b).
Birchbark basket made by Patricia Kakegamic and painted by Norval Morrisseau. Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Gatineau (A-306081). Photograph by Lawrence Cook.
Conflict of Good and Evil, 1966, by Daphne Odjig. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Gift of Jennifer and Gary Scherbain, Winnipeg, 2011 (no. 43465).
Cover of The Legends of My People: The Great Ojibway, illustrated and told by Norval Morrisseau and edited by Selwyn Dewdney (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1965).
Cover of Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist, edited by Greg Hill (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2006).
Cover of Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways, edited by Dr. Herbert T. Schwarz with illustrations by Norval Morrisseau (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1969).
Film still of Jack Pollock and Norval Morrisseau from the National Film Board documentary The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau, 1973.
Expo 67 Mural. Courtesy of Kinsman Robinson Gallery.
Norval Morrisseau, 1975, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives, Dominion Gallery Fonds.
Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1984.
Norval Morrisseau at home in White Rock, B.C., 1996. Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Gatineau. Photograph by Fred Cattrol.
Norval Morrisseau at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1979. Photograph by Ian Samson, courtesy of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario.
Norval Morrisseau in front of Androgyny, 2006. Ottawa Citizen photo archives.
Norval Morrisseau in front of Red Lake Mural. Courtesy of Red Lake Museum.
Norval Morrisseau in Red Lake. Courtesy of Red Lake Museum.
Norval Morrisseau painting Androgyny, 1983.
Norval Morrisseau painting outdoors in Red Lake, August 1966. Courtesy of Kinsman Robinson Gallery.
Past, Present and Future of the Anishinabe People, by Christian Chapman.
Pollock Gallery Invitation, 1962. Courtesy of Kinsman Robinson Gallery.
Art Canada Institute
Massey College, University of Toronto
4 Devonshire Place
Toronto, ON M5S 2E1
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Robertson, Carmen, author
Norval Morrisseau : life & work / Carmen Robertson.
Includes bibliographical references.
Contents: Biography — Key works — Significance & critical issues — Style &
technique — Sources & resources — Where to see.
Electronic monograph.
ISBN 978-1-4871-0087-2 (pdf).—ISBN 978-1-4871-0088-9 (mobile)
1. Morrisseau, Norval, 1931-2007. 2. Morrisseau, Norval, 1931-2007—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Painters—Canada—Biography. I. Morrisseau, Norval, 1931-2007. Paintings. Selections. II. Art Canada Institute, issuing body II. Title.
About the Author
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