kinsmanrobinson.com [email protected] T.: 416-964-2374 108 Cumberland St., , ONM5R 1A6 Kinsman RobinsonR Galle ies

Norval Morrisseau 2016 Retrospective – 5th Installment

NOVEMBER 5 - 26, 2016

3 KINSMAN ROBINSON GALLERIES 108 Cumberland Street Toronto, M5R 1A6 T.: 416-964-2374 [email protected] kinsmanrobinson.com

RIGHT: Boy With Headdress, c. 1998

4 5 NORVAL MORRISSEAU: LIFE & WORK

by CARMEN ROBERTSON

Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau worked outside the established traditions of European visual culture and on occasion used his art to make forceful political statements. He defied categorization and challenged conventional understandings of Indigenous art. Although the media judged him harshly for his alcoholism and his traditional beliefs, such as shamanism, Morrisseau succeeded in raising awareness of Indigenous aesthetics and cultural narratives as he developed an artistic vocabulary that inspired a new movement.

RACIAL POLITICS AND ART

When Norval Morrisseau arrived on the Canadian art scene in 1962, he was something of an anomaly. At a time when enforced assimilation was national policy and had only recently been accorded the right to vote in federal elections, few Indigenous people made art that was viewed as contemporary within the narrow framework accepted in mainstream cultural circles. Most Indigenous artworks were considered artifacts, better displayed in ethnographic museums. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the federal government had invested heavily in the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, and its director, James Houston (1921–2005), worked hard to market Inuit soapstone carvings, drawings, ABOVE: Norval Morrisseau in 1984 with Gloria Bies and Dr. Anita Granowska inside the Brampton and prints as modern artistic expressions. were being primed Library. Photo taken at the time of the AGO’s watershed exhibition, “Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers” (Elizabeth McLuhan and Tom Hill, Methuen, 1984) to consider Indigenous arts as contemporary. The Canadian Guild of Crafts PHOTO CREDIT: FRITZ BEGEMAN. COURTESY RUDY BIES. also supported Indigenous arts, but its shows were typically held in venues other than art galleries. Without government intervention, there appeared to be little appetite for Indigenous art in galleries in the early 1960s.

6 7 Morrisseau’s 1962 exhibition at the Pollock Gallery in Toronto therefore sparked a national news event, in part because of the artist’s racial identity and in part because he was creating contemporary art. Works like Moose Dream Legend, 1962, were hailed as both primitive and modern by critics at the time. Morrisseau’s work demonstrated clear links to the oral narrative traditions of the in its process and its focus on animals and spirit beings, but also commented on how 150 years of the assimilationist policies of Canada’s Indian Act, which included residential schooling, had visibly erased Indigenous issues and understandings from Canadian public life. Curator Gerald McMaster has described Morrisseau as “a latter-day neoprimitivist” because modern art had rejected all referents to things old or expressly cultural while it celebrated primitivism as a universal muse to the modern. Morrisseau’s entry onto the art scene can be best described as a rupture in Canadian art history. As the civil rights movement gained momentum in the United States and inspired Native Americans to push for greater equality, and as Indigenous populations in Mexico advanced similar struggles, Canadian Indigenous peoples also organized and confronted government practices. ABOVE: Sacred Buffalo Worshippers, In June 1969, the release of the Statement of the Government of Canada c. 1963-64 on Indian Policy (a document commonly known as the 1969 White Paper) by the Trudeau government in Ottawa triggered a series of political events. These resulted in the creation of the National Indian Brotherhood and regional factions that challenged the federal government to make changes to a system that was stacked against First Nations people. Artists joined forces, too, to change the racialized ways art was being exhibited in Canada. In 1967, Indigenous artists were commissioned to create the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67, a moment now considered pivotal in acknowledg- ing activism and awareness of Indigenous issues in Canada, but Morrisseau left the project when the government officials organizing the exhibition deemed his mural design of bear cubs nursing from Mother Earth too controversial.

8 9 LEFT: Family Contemplating Unknown, 1980

Morrisseau was part of a group called the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., which was established by Odawa artist (1919-2016) in Winnipeg in 1973 and labelled the Indian Group of Seven by the press. Other members included (1944–1984), (b. 1935), (1943–1978), (1933–1996), and Joseph Sanchez (b. 1948), and its purpose was to promote Indigenous arts and foster opportunities for emerging artists. As early as 1972, anthropologist and artist (1909–1979) had tried to persuade the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa to add works by Morrisseau to its collection, but his effort was unsuccessful. At the time, the ethnographic Canadian Museum of Man, then in Ottawa (now the Canadian Museum of History, Hull, Quebec), was the Canadian institu- tion that collected contemporary Indigenous art, whereas the National Gallery bought works by non-Indigenous Canadian artists. It had been more than thirty years since Dewdney’s initial request when the National Gallery of Canada purchased its first work by Norval Morrisseau. In 2006, the gallery then made him the subject of its first retrospective exhibition devoted entirely to an Indigenous artist. As art critic Paul Gessel, writing in the Ottawa Citizen, noted under the front-page headline “An Art Pioneer Makes His Final Breakthrough,” “Who would be the first Native artist to be given a show akin to the exhibitions granted such ‘white’ Canadian artists as Tom Thomson and Emily Carr? The consensus among the Aboriginal art community was that Norval Morrisseau...had to be the one.” This media coverage repositioned Morrisseau as a major Canadian artist, validated Indigenous art as contemporary, and helped end the practice of separating Indigenous from mainstream artists in public discourse.

Excerpted from Norval Morrisseau: Life & Work by Carmen Robertson (2016) published by the Art Canada Institute, www.aci-iac.ca. We gratefully acknowledge the ACI’s permission to reproduce this material.

Carmen Robertson is a professor in the Visual Arts Department, Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance at the University of Regina. She is a specialist in contemporary Canadian Indigenous art history, visual culture, and colonial issues. A Lakota-Scottish scholar, she has long pursued and promoted the study of Indigenous arts and culture.

10 11 ABOVE: RIGHT: Dialogue Of The Environment, Norval As Shaman Telling c. 1987 Stories & Legends, 1987

12 13 LEFT: ABOVE: Men Speaking In Tongues, Gabe, c. 1999 c. 1974

14 15 ABOVE: Interdependence Of Water Fowls With Fish, 1990

16 17 LEFT: ABOVE: Robyne With Dad, Gabe, Mother With Children, Riding Cosmic Bear, 1990 c. 1980

18 19 ABOVE: Great Owl, c. 1972

TOP: BOTTOM: Sacred Beaver With Power Lines, Bear, Birds & Fish, 1962 c. 1999

20 21 ABOVE: RIGHT: A Tribute To My Beloved Victoria And Family, Daughter In-Law, 1995-96 1978

22 ABOVE: Sacred Owl, c. 1970

TOP: BOTTOM: Primitive Duck, Sacred Bear Spirit Image, c. 1960-64 c. 1999

24 25 ABOVE: Merman, 1970

26 27 LEFT: ABOVE: Warrior Transforming, Bird, 1975 c. 1964

28 29 TOP: BOTTOM: ABOVE: Red Bird, Fish Cycle Artist With Medicine Pouch, c. 1973 1961 c. 1978

30 31 ABOVE: RIGHT: Ojibway Indian Takes Upon Himself Two Thunderbird, c. 1964-67 Serpents As Guardians For Life (Good & Evil). But Indian, Being Superior Has Control Of These Two Powers At His Choice, 1972

32 33 LIST OF WORKS IN EXHIBITION

Primitive Duck, c. 1960-64 Thunderbird, c. 1964-67 Acrylic on paper Acrylic on kraft paper 15 x 22 in., 38.1 x 55.88 cms. 30 x 28 ins., 76.2 x 71.12 cms. Private collection, Arizona; Kinsman Robinson By descent - Clark Kostyshyn Galleries, Toronto; Private collection, Guelph. collection, Thunder Bay, ON; For a similar treatment see Norval Morrisseau, Acquired from the artist Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, 1966: “Mating Ducks” executed with stylized wings Merman, 1970 as well as “Demigod of Death and Decay” both Acrylic on paper board reproduced in exhibition catalogue, Musée national 20 x 32 ins., 50.8 x 81.28 cms. des beaux-arts du Québec (formerly Musée Titled verso by the artist’s hand. Inscribed du Québec), 1966 separately “Fall, 1970 Occupational Therapy Dept., St. Joseph’s Hospital, Thunder Bay, Ont.” Fish Cycle, 1961 Private collection, Thunder Bay, ON; Acrylic on paper Acquired from the artist 18.5 x 23 ins., 46.99 x 58.42 cms. The Pollock Gallery Ltd. label verso; Private Sacred Owl, c. 1970 collection, Toronto; The Pollock Gallery Ltd., Acrylic on paper Toronto; Acquired from the artist 11 x 23.5 ins., 27.94 x 59.69 cms. Titled verso by the artist’s hand. Sacred Beaver With Power Lines, 1962 Private collection, North Bay, ON; Acquired Acrylic on kraft board from the artist by original owner when 27 x 39.5 ins., 68.58 x 100.33 cms. traveling with Robert Lavack and Carl Ray By descent - Private collection, Toronto; Kinsman Robinson Galleries Ojibway Indian Takes Upon Himself Two Serpents As Guardians For Life (Good & Evil). Sacred Buffalo Worshippers, c. 1963-64 But Indian, Being Superior Has Control Acrylic on kraft paper Of These Two Powers At His Choice, 1972 31.5 x 49 ins., 80.01 x 124.46 cms. Acrylic on paper Acquired from the artist while original owner 21.5 x 29.5 ins., 54.61 x 74.93 cms. lived in Red Lake (Cochenour) having regard Titled verso by the artist’s hand; signed “Norval” to the recommendation of Dr. Joseph Weinstein. and dated 1972 verso; Private collection, High River, Exhibited Balmertown Public Library, AB; Acquired directly from the artist during 1973 Red Lake, 1966 (after Norval participated in the Wounded Knee incident, South Dakota, and ended up in jail) Warrior Transforming, c. 1964 Ink marker on paper Great Owl, c. 1972 22.5 x 13 ins., 57.15 x 33 cms. Acrylic on paper Private collection, Thunder Bay, ON; Gallery 11 x 23.5 ins., 27.94 x 59.69 cms. of Fine Arts (purchased 1978), Fort William Titled verso by the artist’s hand. (Now Thunder Bay); Acquired from the artist Private collection, North Bay, ON; Acquired from the artist by original owner when traveling Four Birds, c. 1964 with Robert Lavack and Carl Ray ABOVE: Acrylic on paper The Thunderbird Motif, The Thunderbird 17.5 x 12 ins., 44.45 x 30.48 cms. Was Respected By All First Nation Peoples, 1994 By descent - Private collection, Sault Ste. Marie, ON; Acquired from the artist

34 35 Red Bird, c. 1973 Mother With Children, c. 1980 Thunderbird And Snake Motif, 1991 Boy With Headdress, c. 1998 Acrylic on paper Acrylic on canvas Ink on mat board Acrylic on paper 15.25 x 19 ins., 38.735 x 48.26 cms. (sight) 59 x 49.75 ins., 149.86 x 126.365 cms. 32 x 40 ins., 81.28 x 101.6 cms. 30 x 22 ins., 76.2 x 55.88 cms. Private collection, Toronto; By descent - Clark Kostyshyn collection, By descent - Private collection, Muskoka; Private collection, Burlington, ON The Pollock Gallery Ltd., Toronto; Thunder Bay, ON; Kinsman Robinson Galleries; Acquired from the artist Acquired from the artist Acquired from the artist Bear, Birds & Fish, c. 1999 Acrylic on paper Men Speaking In Tongues, c. 1974 Norval As Shaman Telling Stories & Legends, 1987 Shaman Preaching To All Things, 1992 15 x 22.5 ins., 38.1 x 57.15 cms. Acrylic on artist board Acrylic on canvas Acrylic on canvas (4-panel) Eagle Feather Gallery, Victoria, BC; 40 x 32 ins., 101.6 x 76.2 cms. 95 x 58 ins., 241.3 x 147.32 cms. 72 x 96 ins., 182.88 x 243.84 cms. Private collection, Victoria, BC; Private collection, Toronto; Exhibited Toronto International Art Fair, Reproduced pp. 20-21 Norval Morrisseau 2012 Acquired from the artist The Pollock Gallery Ltd., Toronto; Sept 2004; Morrisseau’s Morrisseaus: Retrospective (Kinsman Robinson Galleries, 2012) Acquired from the artist. Shown in NFB The Artist’s Collection (Kinsman Robinson Exhibited Norval Morrisseau 2012 Retrospective, Gabe, c. 1999 documentary on Morrisseau Galleries, 2006) Reproduced p. 151, Kinsman Robinson Galleries. Private collection, Ink on paper Norval Morrisseau: Return To The House ON; Kinsman Robinson Galleries; 15 x 12 ins., 38.1 x 30.48 cms. Bird, 1975 of Invention (Key Porter, 2005); Kinsman Acquired from the artist In reference to Norval’s longtime Acrylic on paper Robinson Galleries; Private collection, Toronto; caregiver, Gabe Vadas; Titled verso 23.25 x 29 ins., 59.055 x 73.66 cms. (sight) Kinsman Robinson Galleries; The Thunderbird Motif, The Thunderbird by artist’s hand; Private collection, Private collection, Toronto; Acquired from the artist Was Respected By All First Nation Peoples, 1994 Burlington, ON The Pollock Gallery Ltd., Toronto; Acrylic on canvas Acquired from the artist Dialogue Of The Environment, c. 1987 48 x 40 ins., 121.92 x 101.6 cms. Sacred Bear Spirit Image, c. 1999 Acrylic on canvas Ttiled verso by the artist’s hand. Ink on paper Victoria And Family, 1978 50 x 48 ins., 127 x 121.92 cms. Reproduced p. 18 Honouring First Nations 12 x 15 ins., 30.48 x 38.1 cms. Acrylic on canvas Bearclaw Gallery, Edmonton; Private collection, (Kinsman Robinson Galleries, 1994) Titled verso by artist’s hand; 59.5 x 39.25 ins., 151.13 x 99.695 cms. Edmonton; Galal Helmy (E.A. Studio), Private Collection, Toronto; Kinsman Robinson Private collection, Burlington, ON Reproduced p. 153, Sinclair/Pollock, Jasper; Acquired from the artist Galleries; Collection of Helen R. Hammond; The Art of Norval Morrisseau (Methuen Acquired from the artist Grandson With Bird Headdress, 2000 Publications, 1979); Private collection, Toronto; Robyne With Dad, Gabe, Riding Cosmic Bear, 1990 Acrylic on paper The Pollock Gallery Ltd., Toronto; Acrylic on canvas A Tribute To My Beloved Daughter In-Law, 22 x 15 ins., 55.88 x 38.1 cms. Acquired from the artist 60 x 53 ins., 152.4 x 134.62 cms. 1995-96 Private collection, Toronto; Ttiled verso by the artist’s hand. In reference Acrylic on canvas Kinsman Robinson Galleries; Artist With Medicine Pouch, c. 1978 to Norval’s grandson, Robyne and longtime 59 x 49 ins., 149.86 x 124.46 cms. Acquired from the artist Graphite on paper caregiver, Gabe Vadas; Exhibited “Copper Reproduced p. 158, Greg A. Hill, 18 x 12 ins., 45.72 x 30.48 cms. Thunderbird: The Legend” May 4-31, 1991, Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist Private collection, Calgary; Kinsman Robinson Galleries; Private collection, (National Gallery of Canada, 2006); p. 123, Acquired from the artist Toronto; Kinsman Robinson Galleries; Morrisseau/Robinson, Norval Morrisseau: Acquired from the artist Return To The House of Invention (Key Porter Family Contemplating Unknown, 1980 Books, 2005); Exhibited Institute of American Acrylic on canvas Interdependence Of Water Fowls With Fish, 1990 Indian Arts (IAIA), Santa Fe, NM (2007); 30 x 24 ins., 76.2 x 60.96 cms. Acrylic on canvas The George Gustav Heye Centre, Smithsonian’s Titled and dated verso. 27.5 x 55 ins., 69.85 x 139.7 cms. National Museum of the American Indian, Versatel corporate collection; Ttiled verso by the artist’s hand. Exhibited New York, NY (2007); Collection of DeNeen Acquired from the artist “Copper Thunderbird: The Legend” May 4-31, Brown, Washington D.C.; Kinsman Robinson 1991, Kinsman Robinson Galleries; Galleries; Acquired from the artist Private collection, Toronto; Kinsman Robinson Galleries; Acquired from the artist

36 37 Cover: Family Contemplating Unknown, 1980 Art copyright © 2016 Norval Morrisseau Estate Photography copyright © 2016 Michael Cullen/TPG Digital Art Services Text copyright © 2016 Art Canada Institute Published by Tele-Connect Publications Ltd o/a Kinsman Robinson Galleries Printing by F.W. Barrett Company Graphic design by Dale Barrett Printed in Canada

All rights reserved.

Text excerpted from Norval Morrisseau: Life & Work by Carmen Robertson (2016) published by the Art Canada Institute, www.aci-iac.ca. We gratefully acknowledge the ACI’s permission to reproduce this material. No part of this catalogue may be copied, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher.

38 kinsmanrobinson.com [email protected] T.: 416-964-2374 108 Cumberland St., Toronto, ONM5R 1A6 Kinsman RobinsonR Galle ies

Norval Morrisseau