Norval Morrisseau
Encyclopedia
Norval Morrisseau, CM
(March 14, 1932 – December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Aboriginal Canadian
artist
. Known as the "Picasso of the North", Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality
and mysticism
. His style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colors. He founded the Woodlands School
of Canadian art and was a prominent member of the “Indian Group of Seven
”.
, he was born March 14, 1932 on the Sand Point Ojibway reserve near Beardmore, Ontario. Some sources quote him as saying that he was born in Fort William, now part of Thunder Bay
, Ontario
, on the same date in 1931. His full name is Jean-Baptiste Norman Henry Morrisseau, but he signs his work using the Cree syllabics
writing ᐚᐱᐦᑯᐱᓀᐦᓯ (Ozaawaabiko-binesi, unpointed: ᐘᐱᑯᐱᓀᓯ, "Copper/Brass [Thunder]Bird"), as his pen-name for his Anishnaabe name ᒥᐢᒁᐱᐦᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᐦᑮ (Miskwaabik Animikii, unpointed: ᒥᐢᑿᐱᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᑭ, "Copper Thunderbird").
In accordance with Anishnaabe tradition, he was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather, Moses Potan Nanakonagos, a shaman, taught him the traditions and legends of his people. His grandmother, Grace Theresa Potan Nanakonagos, was a devout Catholic
and from her he learned the tenets of Christianity
. The contrast between these two religious traditions became an important factor in his intellectual and artistic development.
At the age of six, he was sent to a Catholic residential school
, where students were educated in the European tradition, native culture was repressed, and the use of native language was forbidden.
After two years he returned home and started attending a local community school.
At the age of 19, he became very sick. He was taken to a doctor but his health kept deteriorating. Fearing for his life, his mother called a medicine-woman who performed a renaming ceremony: She gave him the new name Copper Thunderbird. According to Anishnaabe tradition, giving a powerful name to a dying person can give them new energy and save their lives.
Morrisseau recovered after the ceremony and from then on always signed his works with his new name.
After being invited to meet the artist by Robert Sheppard, an early advocate of Morrisseau was the anthropologist Selwyn Dewdney
, who became very interested in Morrisseau's deep knowledge of native culture and myth. Dewdney was the first to take his art to a wider public.
Jack Pollock, a Toronto
art dealer, helped expose Morrisseau's art to a wider audience in the 1960s. The two met in 1962 while Pollock was teaching a painting workshop in Beardmore. Struck by the discovery of Morrisseau's art, he immediately organized an exhibition of his work at his Toronto gallery.
One of Morrisseau's early commissions was for a large mural in the Indians of Canada Pavilion
at Expo 67
, a revolutionary exhibit voicing the dissatisfaction of the First Nations
People of Canada with their social and political situation.
In 1972, he was caught in a hotel fire in Vancouver and suffered serious burns on three-quarters of his body. In that occasion he had a vision of Jesus encouraging him to be a role model through his art. He converted to the apostolic faith and started introducing Christian themes in his art. A year later he was arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour and was incarcerated for his own protection. He was assigned an extra cell as studio and was allowed to attend a nearby church.
In 1978, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
.
In 2005 and 2006, the National Gallery of Canada
in Ottawa organized a retrospective of his work. This was the first time that the Gallery dedicated a solo exposition to a native artist.
The artist's principal dealer, Kinsman Robinson Galleries, has represented Norval Morrisseau and his artwork for the last nineteen years.
In his final months of his life, the artist used a wheelchair and lived in a residence in Nanaimo, British Columbia
. He was unable to paint due to his poor health. He died of cardiac arrest—complications arising from Parkinson's disease on December 4, 2007 in Toronto General Hospital. He was buried after a private ceremony in Northern Ontario next to the grave of his former wife, Harriet, on Anishinaabe land.
The National Arts Centre, urban ink co-production, Copper Thunderbird, premiered on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
(APTN) on Monday, Feb 4th 2008.
Norval Morrisseau was honoured with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award during the NAAF Awards held at the Sony Centre in Toronto on March 22, 2008.
Kinsman Robinson Galleries' 2008 Morrisseau exhibition, "Norval Morrisseau: A Retrospective," ended on November 29. This retrospective exhibition—KRG's first in over a decade—presented the finest selection of Morrisseau paintings available.
He developed his own techniques and artistic vocabulary which captured ancient legends and images that came to him in visions or dreams. He was originally criticized by the native community because his images disclosed traditional spiritual knowledge.
Initially he painted on any material that he could find, especially birchbark, and also moose hide.
Dewdney encouraged him to use earth-tone colors and traditional material, which he thought were appropriate to Morrisseau's native style.
The subjects of his art in the early period were myths and traditions of the Anishnaabe people.
He is acknowledged to have initiated the Woodland School of native art
, where images similar to the petroglyph
s of the Great Lakes region were now captured in paintings and prints.
His later style changed: he used more standard material and the colors became progressively brighter, eventually obtaining a neon-like brilliance.
The themes also moved from traditional myth to depicting his own personal struggles.
He also produced art depicting Christian subjects: during his incarceration, he attended a local church where he was struck by the beauty of the images on stained-glass windows.
Some of his paintings, like Indian Jesus Christ, imitate that style and represent characters from the Bible with native features.
After he joined the new age religion Eckankar
in 1976, he started representing on canvas its mystical beliefs.
The cover art for the Bruce Cockburn
album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws
is a painting by Norval Morrisseau.
In 2005 Morrisseau established the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS). The Society is currently compiling a database of Norval Morrisseau paintings to discredit many prevalent Morrisseau forgeries. This committee, not affiliated with any commercial gallery or art dealer, comprises highly respected members of the academic, legal and Aboriginal communities working on a volunteer basis. It is charged with creating a complete catalogue raisonné of Norval Morrisseau artwork. The NMHS is currently researching Morrisseau art, provenance and materials and techniques in order to complete the task assigned to them by the artist. The NMHS continue their work and were recently in Red Lake, Ontario
to research additional information and art by the artist.
The Art Dealers Association of Canada (ADAC) issued the following directive in the Winter 2007 newsletter to their membership: "The Art Dealers Association of Canada is enacting a rule and regulation that no certificates of authenticity will be issued by any members of ADAC with respect to any works or purported works by Norval Morrisseau and that the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society is the sole authority for the authentication of works by Norval Morrisseau." ADAC also revoked the membership of a dealer who failed to comply with this directive.
Morrisseau also engaged in more direct intervention, identifying fake and forged works available for sale, particularly those purported to be painted by him in the so-called "70s style". He wrote to galleries and made sworn declarations identifying items being sold as "fakes and imitations". More than ten sworn declarations were directed to at least seven dealers and galleries during 1993-2007, requesting that fake and forged works be removed or destroyed. These dealers include the Artworld of Sherway, Gallery Sunami, Maslak McLeod Gallery and Randy Potter Estate Auctions, among others. Sample declarations are reproduced below.
The debate concerning the authenticity of the "70s paintings", commonly found in the marketplace, continues.
Open dialogue about the authenticity of purported Morrisseau works has been suppressed by threats of lawsuit, and so experts are reluctant to come forward. Consumers have few sources of independently verifiable information to make informed purchases. Until the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society finalizes the catalogue raisonné of Norval Morrisseau artwork, potential buyers should exercise caution.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(March 14, 1932 – December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Aboriginal Canadian
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. Known as the "Picasso of the North", Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
. His style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colors. He founded the Woodlands School
Woodlands Style
The Woodland School Of Art, also named Woodlands style, Woodlands School, or Anishnabe painting, is a genre of painting among First Nations and Native American artists from the Great Lakes area - including northern Ontario and southwestern Manitoba...
of Canadian art and was a prominent member of the “Indian Group of Seven
Indian Group of Seven
The Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation, better known as the Indian Group of Seven, was a group of professional Indian artist from Canada, founded in November 1973....
”.
Biography
An AnishinaabeAnishinaabe
Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...
, he was born March 14, 1932 on the Sand Point Ojibway reserve near Beardmore, Ontario. Some sources quote him as saying that he was born in Fort William, now part of Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay
-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, on the same date in 1931. His full name is Jean-Baptiste Norman Henry Morrisseau, but he signs his work using the Cree syllabics
Cree syllabics
Cree syllabics, found in two primary variants, are the versions of Canadian Aboriginal syllabics used to write Cree dialects, including the original syllabics system created for Cree and Ojibwe. Syllabics were later adapted to several other languages...
writing ᐚᐱᐦᑯᐱᓀᐦᓯ (Ozaawaabiko-binesi, unpointed: ᐘᐱᑯᐱᓀᓯ, "Copper/Brass [Thunder]Bird"), as his pen-name for his Anishnaabe name ᒥᐢᒁᐱᐦᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᐦᑮ (Miskwaabik Animikii, unpointed: ᒥᐢᑿᐱᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᑭ, "Copper Thunderbird").
In accordance with Anishnaabe tradition, he was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather, Moses Potan Nanakonagos, a shaman, taught him the traditions and legends of his people. His grandmother, Grace Theresa Potan Nanakonagos, was a devout Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and from her he learned the tenets of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. The contrast between these two religious traditions became an important factor in his intellectual and artistic development.
At the age of six, he was sent to a Catholic residential school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, where students were educated in the European tradition, native culture was repressed, and the use of native language was forbidden.
After two years he returned home and started attending a local community school.
At the age of 19, he became very sick. He was taken to a doctor but his health kept deteriorating. Fearing for his life, his mother called a medicine-woman who performed a renaming ceremony: She gave him the new name Copper Thunderbird. According to Anishnaabe tradition, giving a powerful name to a dying person can give them new energy and save their lives.
Morrisseau recovered after the ceremony and from then on always signed his works with his new name.
After being invited to meet the artist by Robert Sheppard, an early advocate of Morrisseau was the anthropologist Selwyn Dewdney
Selwyn Dewdney
Selwyn Hanington Dewdney was an author, illustrator, artist, activist and pioneer in both art therapy and pictography.- Early life :...
, who became very interested in Morrisseau's deep knowledge of native culture and myth. Dewdney was the first to take his art to a wider public.
Jack Pollock, a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
art dealer, helped expose Morrisseau's art to a wider audience in the 1960s. The two met in 1962 while Pollock was teaching a painting workshop in Beardmore. Struck by the discovery of Morrisseau's art, he immediately organized an exhibition of his work at his Toronto gallery.
One of Morrisseau's early commissions was for a large mural in the Indians of Canada Pavilion
Indians of Canada Pavilion
The Indians of Canada Pavilion was a pavilion at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal, Canada. It presented a somewhat different message than what the Canadian government had hoped, emphasizing the First Nations' point of view...
at Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
, a revolutionary exhibit voicing the dissatisfaction of the First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
People of Canada with their social and political situation.
In 1972, he was caught in a hotel fire in Vancouver and suffered serious burns on three-quarters of his body. In that occasion he had a vision of Jesus encouraging him to be a role model through his art. He converted to the apostolic faith and started introducing Christian themes in his art. A year later he was arrested for drunk and disorderly behaviour and was incarcerated for his own protection. He was assigned an extra cell as studio and was allowed to attend a nearby church.
In 1978, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.
In 2005 and 2006, the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
in Ottawa organized a retrospective of his work. This was the first time that the Gallery dedicated a solo exposition to a native artist.
The artist's principal dealer, Kinsman Robinson Galleries, has represented Norval Morrisseau and his artwork for the last nineteen years.
In his final months of his life, the artist used a wheelchair and lived in a residence in Nanaimo, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. He was unable to paint due to his poor health. He died of cardiac arrest—complications arising from Parkinson's disease on December 4, 2007 in Toronto General Hospital. He was buried after a private ceremony in Northern Ontario next to the grave of his former wife, Harriet, on Anishinaabe land.
The National Arts Centre, urban ink co-production, Copper Thunderbird, premiered on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network is a Canadian broadcast and cable television network. APTN airs and produces programs made by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples...
(APTN) on Monday, Feb 4th 2008.
Norval Morrisseau was honoured with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award during the NAAF Awards held at the Sony Centre in Toronto on March 22, 2008.
Kinsman Robinson Galleries' 2008 Morrisseau exhibition, "Norval Morrisseau: A Retrospective," ended on November 29. This retrospective exhibition—KRG's first in over a decade—presented the finest selection of Morrisseau paintings available.
Style
Morrisseau was a self-taught artist.He developed his own techniques and artistic vocabulary which captured ancient legends and images that came to him in visions or dreams. He was originally criticized by the native community because his images disclosed traditional spiritual knowledge.
Initially he painted on any material that he could find, especially birchbark, and also moose hide.
Dewdney encouraged him to use earth-tone colors and traditional material, which he thought were appropriate to Morrisseau's native style.
The subjects of his art in the early period were myths and traditions of the Anishnaabe people.
He is acknowledged to have initiated the Woodland School of native art
Woodlands Style
The Woodland School Of Art, also named Woodlands style, Woodlands School, or Anishnabe painting, is a genre of painting among First Nations and Native American artists from the Great Lakes area - including northern Ontario and southwestern Manitoba...
, where images similar to the petroglyph
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
s of the Great Lakes region were now captured in paintings and prints.
His later style changed: he used more standard material and the colors became progressively brighter, eventually obtaining a neon-like brilliance.
The themes also moved from traditional myth to depicting his own personal struggles.
He also produced art depicting Christian subjects: during his incarceration, he attended a local church where he was struck by the beauty of the images on stained-glass windows.
Some of his paintings, like Indian Jesus Christ, imitate that style and represent characters from the Bible with native features.
After he joined the new age religion Eckankar
Eckankar
Eckankar is a new religious movement founded in the United States in 1965, though practiced around the world long before with a solid following in China. It focuses on spiritual exercises enabling practitioners to experience what its followers call "the Light and Sound of God." The personal...
in 1976, he started representing on canvas its mystical beliefs.
The cover art for the Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws
Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws
- Personnel :* Bruce Cockburn - Guitar, chimes, synthesizer, dulcimer, voice* Pat Godfrey - Piano, marimba, background vocal on "Wondering Where the Lions Are"* Robert Boucher - Bass* Bob Di Salle - Drums, congasexcept on "Wondering Where the Lions Are"...
is a painting by Norval Morrisseau.
Fakes and Forgeries
The prevalence of fakes and forgeries was of deep concern to Morrisseau, particularly during his later years, and he actively sought to remove these from the marketplace.In 2005 Morrisseau established the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society (NMHS). The Society is currently compiling a database of Norval Morrisseau paintings to discredit many prevalent Morrisseau forgeries. This committee, not affiliated with any commercial gallery or art dealer, comprises highly respected members of the academic, legal and Aboriginal communities working on a volunteer basis. It is charged with creating a complete catalogue raisonné of Norval Morrisseau artwork. The NMHS is currently researching Morrisseau art, provenance and materials and techniques in order to complete the task assigned to them by the artist. The NMHS continue their work and were recently in Red Lake, Ontario
Red Lake, Ontario
Population trend:* Population in 2006: 4526* Population in 2001: 4233* Population total in 1996: 4778** Golden : 2248** Red Lake : 2277* Population in 1991:** Golden : 2355** Red Lake : 2268-Climate:...
to research additional information and art by the artist.
Morrisseau also engaged in more direct intervention, identifying fake and forged works available for sale, particularly those purported to be painted by him in the so-called "70s style". He wrote to galleries and made sworn declarations identifying items being sold as "fakes and imitations". More than ten sworn declarations were directed to at least seven dealers and galleries during 1993-2007, requesting that fake and forged works be removed or destroyed. These dealers include the Artworld of Sherway, Gallery Sunami, Maslak McLeod Gallery and Randy Potter Estate Auctions, among others. Sample declarations are reproduced below.
The debate concerning the authenticity of the "70s paintings", commonly found in the marketplace, continues.
Open dialogue about the authenticity of purported Morrisseau works has been suppressed by threats of lawsuit, and so experts are reluctant to come forward. Consumers have few sources of independently verifiable information to make informed purchases. Until the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society finalizes the catalogue raisonné of Norval Morrisseau artwork, potential buyers should exercise caution.
Exhibits
- National Gallery of CanadaNational Gallery of CanadaThe National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
, OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
: February 3, 2006–April 30, 2006 - Thunder Bay Art GalleryThunder Bay Art GalleryThe Thunder Bay Art Gallery is Northwestern Ontario's primary art gallery specializing in the work of contemporary First Nations artists. It is located on the campus of Confederation College in Thunder Bay....
, Thunder BayThunder Bay-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
, OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
: June 6, 2006–September 4, 2006 - McMichael Canadian Art CollectionMcMichael Canadian Art CollectionThe McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an art gallery in Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada, northwest of Toronto. It houses an extensive collection of paintings by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, and First Nations and Inuit artists....
, Kleinburg, OntarioKleinburg, Ontario-External links:* * *...
: September 30, 2006–January 14, 2007 - Institute of American Indian ArtsInstitute of American Indian ArtsThe Institute of American Indian Arts is a college focused on Native American art. It is situated in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is congressionally chartered, and was created by an executive order of former American President John F. Kennedy in 1962...
Museum, Santa Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
: June 15, 2007–September 3, 2007 - The George Gustav Heye CenterThe George Gustav Heye CenterThe George Gustav Heye Center is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City, USA. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution...
of the National Museum of the American IndianNational Museum of the American IndianThe National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
, New York City, New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
: October 20, 2007–January 20, 2008
Further reading
- Greg Hill, Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist, Douglas & McIntyre, Canada, 2006, ISBN 1-55365-176-6.
- Norval Morrisseau, Donald C. Robinson, Return to the House of Invention, Key Porter Books Ltd, Canada, 2005, ISBN 1-55263-726-3.
- Basil H. JohnstonBasil H. JohnstonBasil H. Johnston O.Ont, Anishinaabe writer, storyteller, language teacher and scholar, was born on the Wasauksing First Nation in Ontario, Canada, on July 13, 1929, to Mary and Rufus Johnston...
, The Art of Norval Morrisseau, The Writings of Basil H. Johnston, The Glenbow Museum, Calgary, 1999. - Norval Morrisseau, Donald C. Robinson, Travels to the House of Invention, Key Porter Books Ltd, Canada, 1997, ISBN 1-55013-880-4.
- Norval Morrisseau, Legends of my people, the great Ojibway, Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1965.
External links
- Morrisseau's principal dealer: Kinsman Robinson Galleries
- Morrisseau's authorized biography
- Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
- Globe & Mail: Norval Morrisseau, 76
- Boston Globe: Norval Morrisseau, was native artist of Canada
- Norval Morrisseau biography, originals and reproductions
- Morrisseau video shot at Kinsman Robinson Galleries
- Norval Morrisseau and the Nobel Peace Prize
- "Woodland Art: The Influence of Norval Morrisseau" in Thunder Bay Experience Guide 2009 (2:32).