Published January 15th on DailyArtMagazine.com
The Picasso of the North, as he was known throughout Europe; Copper Thunderbird, as he was known in the Anishinaabe region of Canada. Whatever you’d like to call him, Norval Morrisseau’s work transcended time and opened the door for contemporary Indigenous artists throughout Canada. Ultimately he became the grandfather of Indigenous contemporary art.
He never wanted to do anything but hear stories and draw. From a young age, Norval Morrisseau, born in 1931 and raised around Ontario, Canada, was different. Like most Indigenous children at the time in Canada, Morrisseau was forced to attend a residential school. Furthermore, he and his people were prohibited from practicing their traditional beliefs.
Unlike most children, Morrisseau only wanted to make art. He never received any formal art training and, as tradition would have it, would spend time living with his grandparents on a reserve. It was there that he learned the traditional Indigenous stories and cultural traditions of his people from his grandfather, Moses Potan Nanakonagos, a shaman who was trained in the local spiritual tradition.
“I’m the grandfather. Instead of being Grandma Moses, I suppose I’m Grandfather Morrisseau or something like that. And they tell me that I have opened these doors for them.” – Norval Morrisseau
Artwork featured by the Art Institute of Canada
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