Man Changes into Bear Walker (1989) by Norval Morrisseau

Man Changes into Bear Walker

Norval Morrisseau

acrylic on canvas, 36 ¼” x 111 ¼”, 1989

Since returning from Paris last June Norval Morrisseau has been working on a new body of work.The visions like ancient taboos that have changed into dreams of the future, come to life on canvas. They are talismans of hope for the future and images of respect from the past.

 Bryant Ross

The Art Emporium, Vancouver, 1989

Grand Shaman Norval Morrisseau >>> In the beginning...

...the rest is legend.

Norval Morrisseau - Stained Glass Effect - An interpretation by Stardreamer

Stained Glass Effect
Norval Morrisseau
Acrylic on Canvass - 1989

This painting was one of a number that were painted in 1989 soon after Morrisseau returned from his exhibit at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris as part of the French Revolution Bicentennial celebrations. Morrisseau has titled it on the back in pencil.

Interpretation

Stained Glass Effect is a totem of empowerment.

Morrisseau is a member of the Bear Clan and a Grand Shaman of the Medicine Society which is traditionally guarded by four Medicine Bears. This painting depicts the Great Medicine Bear. In this painting Morrisseau depicts man as "God".

As a talisman this painting provides protection, good health, harmony and peace in accordance with the axiom, "as it is above, so it is below".

Morrisseau sets "white" into all "three" eyes to reveal that this bear is a "Spirit Bear", increasing its Shamanic significance. Spirit Bears are the legendary "albino" bear found only in British Columbia, where this painting was created. White, in any Morrisseau bear represents "good medicine" (i.e. White Magic).

This medicine is powerful because whenever a Spirit Bear appears the Anishnaabe are given a profound remembrance from their Creator. A reminder of their magnificent home from long ago that has been encoded into tribal memory. A place we named "Antarctica" and formerly called "Atlantis".

Spirit Bear, in three-fold stance, symbolically depicts the Anishnaabe constellation of Orion. To Morrisseau, as it is with the Aboriginals of the Southern Hemisphere, Orion a.k.a. "Bear" symbolizes the prehistoric source of all humanity. They believe that we are sourced to a planet that revolves around a star we called "Sirius". In this painting, the three brightest stars of Orion’s Belt are represented as the three white eyes of Bear.

This bear generates power.

The West side of this painting represents the past. The East represents the future.
The blue sky above represents the heavenly and the green below, the earthly.
The pink bar which crosses the breadth of the painting symbolizes society, humanity, conformity, horizontal life and the fragility of flesh (i.e. mortality).

The obelisk, rod of power or erect penis, is a primary aboriginal symbol depicting Shamanic power and the perpetuating life force. Its significant size and status in tandem with it facing North-East shows that Bear will ecstatically power up one’s future.

The bright orange pack on the back of Bear is his medicine pouch, traditionally placed on his back by South American Shamans and Morrisseau, in perfect accordance to the formation of the Orion Constellation’s secondary stars.

The deep red power point to the South-West of the artwork symbolizes the generation of earthly power from the deep past. The emanating lines from this "balanced" and therefore energizing power point show this earthly power circulating into Bear yet from humanity.

Bear’s legs and paws show us that he is driven through physical life to deliver "blueprint seeds" (or gifts) depicted as blue dots.

An Emanating line of power emerges from the hind leg of Bear. Five blue dots in this, the most "physical" of his appendages, show us that Bear lives life as a physical man. The emerging line of power shows that Bear contributes to the development of civilization.

Bear’s middle leg and paw display six "blueprint" dots which symbolize the realized ideal of a good life. Fruitful seeds of emotional life have been planted and grown. They have emerged through society and beyond into a higher place of peace and harmony.

Rising out of a deep purple which symbolizes ancient instincts Bear’s penis lifts emotional energy. Sexual power is impeccably balanced and expressed in the clear light of day as an act of God. Bear lifts and circulates energy.

Bear’s forepaw depicts Bear’s mind. It is a universal reflection of the five blueprint dots shown on Bear’s hind leg and paw. As it is above so it is below. It is the mind of a man.

The foreleg is painted differently than the other legs. It appears as a deep purple stroked with "Mayan" green, symbolizing knowledge of an ancient past.

The source or "soul vessel" who carries this ancient knowledge is grafted into the spirit of Bear depicted as the Shaman of the North-West. His ear adornments make it clear that he is the source of these "blueprints" which Bear brings to life. The Shaman’s turban shows us that he is the source of this knowledge which has "mushroomed" into being. It is Bear’s inheritance of inherent gifts from the past.

The Spiritual man, depicted as the North-East man, is the viewer experiencing this awesome power of God as a divine awakening.

Five green wheels of life and power circulate in perfect balance creating an energy path.

An emanating line of power emerges from the light purple of higher spiritual insight where its power modifies Bear’s instincts as it drives through Bear’s penis, transforming life into love, awakening mind and giving Bear the gift of voice.

Bear needs only use his tongue so that the upper and lower jaws are connected as one. Then the power once given will be returned. The circle fulfilled. The past with be joined to the future to create the eternal now.

The pink nose of this Sacred Bear symbolizes a complete Soul. This is a being blessed with the power of the tongue, peace of "high-bernation" and place of Kundalini release.

>>>>>>> Stardreamer

Little Bear of Orion with Medicine Pack

NORVAL MORRISSEAU in the MAGAZINE OF THE NORTH - 1971

Untitled (1970)

Norval Morrisseau

NORVAL MORRISEAU

For more than a decade the bright bold art of Norval Morriseau has portrayed mythical figures from the folklore of his people. In the beginning his work was stylized, semi-abstract, a compro­mise between Ojibwa law that demands sacred beliefs be kept secret, and his own passion to record the legends of his people. In recent years the mythical figures have taken more substantial form. His favourite theme of the thunderbird man appears more solidly human; his patterns of deep bold colour hold the eye like sunlight on stained glass. Light fanciful butterflies sometimes appear in his work, a contrast to solidly massed colour and a delight to his children.

Morriseau, born in 1931 at the Sand Point Reserve on Lake Nipigon in northern Ontario, states simply that he is a born artist with no formal training. His only consistent schooling was two winters at the Indian Residential School at Fort William. As a young boy he spent many hours with his grandfather who told him legends that he in turn had heard from his grandfather. The spirit figures filled the boy's imagination; he covered the cabin walls with his drawings.

He was first encouraged to continue his drawing and painting when he was employed at the Cochenour gold mine at Red Lake. Dr. Joseph Weinstein, the medical officer was himself an artist of some talent and a collector of primitive art. Morriseau's first show was held at the Pollock Gallery in Toronto in 1962. His work has since been seen in a sixteen-foot-high mural at Expo '67 and in exhibitions in Canada and the United States as well as at Saint Paul de Vence, France.

In 1960 Morriseau wrote the legends of his people down on paper for Selwyn Dewdney who edited his book Legends of my People, the Great Ojibway, published in 1965. A second book Windigo and other tales of the Ojibways was published in co-operation with Dr. Herbert T. Schwarz in 1969.

Morriseau says of the mythical figures: 'I drew and painted them as best I could for the Ojibwa and for all the children of our white brothers to see'.

The Beaver - MAGAZINE OF THE NORTH;

Issue of SUMMER 1971; Pages: 24 & 25;

Hudson's Bay Company

Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways - Herbert T. Schwarz - Norval Morrisseau

Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways

Herbert T. Schwarz/Norval Morrisseau

McClelland and Stewart Limited

1969

"The time has come for us to record the story of our people," writes Norval Morrisseau. "I listened to many of these stories and to our legends and ancestral beliefs as they were told to me by the wise men of the Ojibway. I wrote some of them on paper, and I drew and painted them as best I could for the Ojibway and for all the children of our white brothers to see."

Retold by Herbert T. Schwarz, here are eight legends of the Ojibway, illustrated in the traditional style of the tribe with two-colour drawings by the Ojibway artist, Norval Morrisseau.

Windigo, an Indian trapper, is transformed by an evil spirit into a giant with an insati­able appetite. Three young braves defy the traditions of their ancestors and climb the Forbidden Mountain, where they are be­witched by a Thunderbird Woman. Red Bird of the Ojibways and Medicine Turtle of the Assiniboines, both great chiefs and conjurors, battle to see whose magic is more powerful. Pantenata sympathizes with the strange being Paakuk and hears the eerie story of his sin, which condemned him "for hundreds of years to fly around and around the world, between the moon and the sun, day in and day out, till the world's end." Silver Cloud suddenly becomes a bright red mushroom, right before his brother's eyes. Beautiful Ishka-Maatuk flees from an unwanted mar­riage in her father's village. Whisky-Jack angers the water spirit Mishipeshu with his arrogance, and is swallowed by a monstrous trout. His greed for silver causes the white trader Balthazar to deceive the friendly In­dians, and incurs the wrath of the great god Manitou...

Morrisseau recounted the tales that in­spired his paintings, and from his descrip­tions, Herbert T. Schwarz has built an im­aginative collection of stories for readers, young and old alike. These are tales that will interest those already familiar with Indian lore as well as those discovering the Thunderbird or Manitou for the first time.

Herbert T. Schwarz

Born in England, Herbert T. Schwarz gradu­ated from Sheffield University Medical School and the University of London, then emigrated to Canada in 1950 at the age of twenty-eight. He taught first at Ottawa University Medical School, and in 1952 moved to Montreal to join the University Clinic of the Royal Vic­toria Hospital and the Donner Building for Medical Research at McGill University. He soon became fascinated by French-Canadian history and culture and in 1965, opened La Galerie Cartier, an antique shop in the an­cient residence of Jacques Viger, the first mayor of Montreal. A year later, while con­sultant to the Quebec Pavilion, Dr. Schwarz met the Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau, and this book began.

Norval Morrisseau

Born at Sand Point Indian Reserve on Lake Nipigon, Norval Morrisseau, whose tribal name is Copper Thunderbird, is descendant of Ojibway chiefs. Morrisseau is a self-taught artist, and he was discovered by the art dealer Jack Pollock who arranged his first show in 1962 at The Pollock Gallery in Toronto. 'Time' magazine (Canadian edition) commented about the event that "Few ex­hibits in Canadian art history have touched off a greater stir."

As well as being the single source of graphic expression of Ojibway legend and myth today, Norval Morrisseau is one of the few initiated members of the tribe who is willing to act as an interpreter of Indian learning and lore. The journals he kept were edited by Selwyn Dewdney and published in 1965 as Legends of My People: The Great Ojibway. When the artist met Dr. Schwarz, he was executing a sixteen-foot-high mural for the Indian Pavilion at Expo 67. They struck up an immediate friendship-which led to Dr. Schwarz's retelling of the Ojibway stories, and Norval Morrisseau's illustrations.

Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention - The Art Book - 1997

Shaman's Astral Journey in a Dream State

Norval Morrisseau

(Detail) - 1995

Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention

© 1997 by Norval Morrisseau/Kinsman Robinson Galleries

Key Porter Books Limited, ISBN: 1-55013-880-4

Legends of My People The Great Ojibway - Illustrated and told by Norval Morriseau - 1965

Legends of My People The Great Ojibway

Illustrated and told by Norval Morriseau

Edited by Selwyn Dewdney /© The Ryerson Press, 1965

In 1962, Norval Morrisseau met a Toronto artist-gallery owner Jack Pollock, who was teaching painting in northern Ontario. Pollock was so impressed with Morrisseau's paintings that he put on a solo exhibition of Morrisseau's work at his Toronto gallery. The show was an astonishing success; all the paintings sold out in one day.

This led to jealousy among tribal members who criticized Norval Morrisseau for revealing the tribe's legends and beliefs in the paintings. Since the paintings speak to the emotions but not in words, they may be based on legends and myths, but don't actually narrate anything.

Probably the cricitism stemmed mostly from Morrisseau's book "Legends of My People The Great Ojibway", edited by Selwyn Dewdeney - an art aducator and noted expert on Ojibway art and anthropology (Toronto, Ryerson Press, 1965). Morrisseau defended himself, saying he wanted to restore cultural pride to the largely catholicized people. Indeed, the visual vocabulary he developed has spoken powerfully to artistically inclined Ahishnaabe all over northern Ontario.

Norval Morrisseau 1971 Shaman Warrior

Untitled

Norval Morrisseau

51"x35" painted c. 1971

Collection of the National Gallery of Canada

Earth Mother With Her Children - Norval Morrisseau - 1967

Earth Mother With Her Children

Norval Morrisseau

Acrylic on cedar wood, 30ftx20ft, 1967

"The Indians of Canada bid you welcome. Walk in our moccasins the trail from our past. Live with us in the here and now. Talk with us by the fire of the days to come."

Visitors to the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo '67 were greeted and welcomed with the above sign. Montreal’s World’s Fair which coincided with Canada’s 100th birthday of Confederation hosted almost 100 foreign and local theme pavilions and is estimated to have attracted over 50 million visitors during the six months of operation. The fair was held from April 28 to October 27, 1967 on Ile. St. Helene and Ile Notre Dame.

The above painting on a cedar exterior wall of the Indians of Canada Pavilion was painted by Norval Morrisseau and his apprentice Carl Ray. On the bottom of the right hand corner Norval Morrisseau inscribed his dedication:

"In honour of my Grandfather Potan Nanakonagos and to our Ancestors"

Sources:

• NORVAL MORRISSEAU AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE IMAGE MAKERS (page 22); ISBN: 0-458-97390-4, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984 /Methuen Publications/;
• THE ART OF NORVAL MORRISSEAU (page 32) /Sinclair, Lister, Jack Pollock, and Norval Morrisseau/; ISBN: 0-458-93820-3 /Toronto, Ontario: Methuen, 1979./;
• THE MORRISSEAU PAPERS: "An Inside Story" (page 42); ISBN: 978-0-9731567-3-7, 2007 /Perdida Press/

STARDREAMER NOTES: As a 10 year old I journeyed with my mother and sister from Thunder Bay to Montreal by Greyhound to experience Expo 67. I retain no memory of meeting Morrisseau or seeing his mural while there. I do however remember revellng in my first outdoor concert performed by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass and stepping into an American space capsule that remains seared in memory because I got to touch the burns on its hull from re-entry.

Norval Morrisseau... Just Be

Norval Morrisseau at Work

"I have always been attracted to religious paintings, but only the ones that had that mystical or supernatural quality in them, especially Saint Teresa by Bernini. Just looking at Saint Teresa I get some kind of vibrations from it. I can close my eyes and feel them. That's great art, and it brings on that tingling sexual feeling. Other saints, like Saint Sebastian, do that as well. But the Christ figure was always the one that was dominant for me.That's why I say that Christ to me is still the greatest shaman, and that is why some religious visions are so complex, and so very hard to explain to people. So whenever you are looking at my pictures, you are looking at my visions, whatever they may be."

Norval Morrisseau

UNDER THE SHAMAN'S DOME - Norval Morrisseau - 1980

UNDER THE SHAMAN'S DOME

Norval Morrisseau

78"x 62", acrylic on canvass, 1980

"Norval Morrisseau's courageous and often controversial approach to his work was instrumental in encouraging First Nations people to know their spirituality, history and culture in order to better understand themselves. He taught us to be proud of who we are. He inspired countless other First Nations people to pursue a career in the arts. His legacy will remain with us and continue to inspire all Canadians for many generations to come."

Phil Fontaine

Assembly of First Nations National Chief

NORVAL MORRISSEAU: ISLANDS WITHIN - by Denese Izzard 2005

NORVAL MORRISSEAU: ISLANDS WITHIN

From Thunder Bay, Manitoulin Island, Toronto, Jasper Alberta, Santa Fe, Vancouver to Nanaimo, Canada's national treasure, Norval Morrisseau born to power of place, found the power to be.

Starting his venturesome life at Sandy Lake Reserve (born in Fort William, now Thunder Bay), the man known as father of "The Woodland School of Art" knew as a child that he was on a mission not to lose his people's culture. The artist's way would preserve it, defying tribal taboos against revealing sacred tales to the outside world.

Mother Ojibway, father Métis, Morrisseau was raised in traditional manner by maternal grandparents. A medicine woman gave him the protective name, his now famous signature "Copper Thunderbird."

Later like lightning before rumbling thunder, Norval would wield his paint brush on plywood panels, brown wrapping paper, and birchbark scrolls, making images come alive from stories passed down from shaman to shaman for thousands of years, told to him by his own grandfather, Shaman Moses "Potan" Nanakonagos, sixth generation Ojibway.

Throughout his career, Norval would dream dreams and have visions. His astral travels took him to the House of Invention, his source of inspiration for both content and colour. There he learned that ions and electrons were an underlying force that radiated from a colourful palette - that colour therapy can cure people. With ancients as guides telling him that heaven is "as above, so below," images were brought through him and out of him. Yet he felt he was only an instrument.

Morrisseau's art continued to reveal original designs and illuminate history with new information. "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."

In the 1950s, working in a gold mine in Cochenour, struggling to sell his work at the Fergie McDougal General Store, the artist was discovered by Dr. Joseph and Esther Weinstein. Amazed by Morrisseau's talent, they bought everything he painted while he was still employed at the gold mine. Then in 1962 art dealer Jack Pollock paid a visit to Beardmore, Ontario. Overwhelmed by Norval's canvases, an exhibit was planned for his Toronto gallery. A huge sensation, the show sold out.

A few years later Norval's "Sacred Buffalo Worshippers" graced Calgary's Glenbow Museum, drawing rave reviews. It was unlike any art work that had been done before.

SACRED BUFFALO WORSHIPPERS

 35"X52", c. 1964

One of Canada's most accomplished painters, Morrisseau has exhibited throughout North America, France, Germany and Norway. In 1989 he was the only Canadian painter invited to exhibit at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris to mark the bicentennial of the French Revolution. A member of the Order of Canada and the Royal Canadian Academy of Art, Norval Morrisseau holds the eagle feather, the highest honour awarded by the Assembly of First Nations.

Morriseau also caught the attention of the greats. Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall attended a show of his works at a solo exhibition at the Galerie St. Paul, in St. Paul-de-Vence, France (1969), where Chagall remarked, "Norval Morrisseau's work bears the hallmark of a Picasso of the north." A clear reference to the originality of the work and its break from hidebound precedents that had characterized native North American art.

All considered, the mid-1980s were a difficult time for Canada's world famous artist who, after a failed business attempt, ended up on the streets of Vancouver.

In 1987 he met Canadian-born Hungarian Gabor Vadas, a remarkable young man, who helped him to get back on track. Said Morrisseau, "He's the son I've been dreaming about for 20 years." He also became the artist's muse. Then Vadas met future French-Acadian wife, Michele. By the time sons Robin and Kyle arrived, Norval had a built-in family. In White Rock, living in a 2-storey home, Gabe built an artist's studio with skylights, stained glass door, and deck facing the waterfront. These years resulted in some of his best work.

The internationally acclaimed painter has exhibited throughout North America, France, Germany and Norway. Internationally recognized at age 73, Norval Morrisseau is bound for immortality.

Today his life fully lived, he resides in a Nanaimo carehome, relatively comfortable after a stroke and Parkinson's Disease confined him to a wheelchair. The Vadas' spend most every day with the nation's artistic treasure - going for drives in the country, walks on the sea wall, or at their home.

Artistic royalty, nearly iconic, Morrisseau sits stoically in a large leather recliner, TV on. Not wanting to lean into his space, the writer kneels, dares to touch the hand of the Grand Shaman of the Ojibway. His deep brown eyes darken, rest on the stranger. Breaking the spell, Michele places a cup of coffee on his sidetable and sits down, opening an impressive album of Norval Morriseau paintings, vital to the screenplay she's working on.
 
Featured on a wall is another dynamic work portraying "The Family" - Norval, Gabe, Michele and Robin. Michele says, "I wouldn't sell this painting for anything."

THE FAMILY

c. 1990s

Years ago Robert and Signe McMichael, founders of the McMichael Collection at Kleinburg, Ontario, invited Morrisseau to stay in Tom Tomson's cabin on their property. Michele recalls, "Before he died, McMichael said he believed that when Canada 'disappears,' Morrisseau will remain. I believe history will note that Norval will be better known than Picasso. He's more original."

Denese Izzard

Gabriola SOUNDER

March 2005

Thunderbird Fish - Norval Morrisseau - 1969

Thunderbird Fish

Norval Morrisseau

1969

I AM AN INDIAN

1969

BY J. M. Dent & Sons

This book was the first anthology of Indian literature published in Canada. It had been written and illustrated by men and women who are called Indians, but who think of themselves as Sioux or Salish, Ojibway or Delaware, Abnakis or Assiniboine. Here is a glimpse into an Indian world - a world of wars and treaties, honour and treachery, wealth and degradation. Indian stories, songs, and poems from all areas of Canada have been included so that others may enjoy some of the fun that is Blackfoot fun, meet some of the heroes that are Cree heroes, and learn some of the wisdom that is Kwakiutl wisdom.

The reader will be able to find out about some of Canada's Indian "rebels" from the "inside". He will be able to share the experiences of a young Assiniboine boy whose parents both die violently in a tragic set of circumstances uniquely Canadian. Included, too, is the story of the young Okanagan who became Canada's first Indian Member of Parliament.

The Indian people here offer to share the experi­ences and thoughts of their Canada - too long neglected - and which form a vital part of the heri­tage rightfully belonging to all who call themselves Canadians.

The upper picture, "Canadian Geese", is by Francis Kagige (Ojibway for "Forever"), a self-taught Odawa Indian from Manitoulin Island, Ontario.

The lower picture, "Thunderbird Fish", is by Norval Morriseau, whose Indian name is Copper Thunderbird. Mr. Morriseau is an Ojibway, born and raised in the area northwest of Lake Superior.

Children of Mother Earth - Norval Morrisseau - 1979

Children of Mother Earth

Norval Morrisseau

40" x40" acrylic on round canvass paintings, c. 1979

The Art of Norval Morrisseau In Porcelain

Limited edition series of four collector's plates entitled Children of Mother Earth were comprised of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The set (Edition of 2500; each plate is 9 3/4" DIA) was based on Norval Morrisseau's designs produced in Germany (1983) by Anna-Perrenna, from the very finest Rosenthal porcelain. Each plate have original satin lined box, certificate of authenticity and were individually signed by Norval Morrisseau. There is also a booklet that came with the set, called "The Art of Norval Morrisseau In Porcelain.