b. 1931, Sandy Point Reserve, Ontario
d. 1997
First Nations Affiliation: Ojibwa

A member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts since 1970, Norval Morrisseau was the celebrated founder of the Woodland School, which revitalized Anishnabe iconography, traditionally incised on rocks and Midewiwin birchbark scrolls. A self-taught painter, printmaker, and illustrator, Morrisseau created an innovative vocabulary which was initially criticized in the Native community for its disclosure of traditional spiritual knowledge. His colourful, figurative images delineated with heavy black formlines and x-ray articulations, were characteristically signed with the syllabic spelling of Copper Thunderbird, the name Morrisseau's grandfather gave him. Morrisseau completed many commissions during his career, including the mural for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo '67. He was presented with the Order of Canada in 1978, and in 1980 honourary doctorates from McGill and McMaster Universities. In 1995, Morrisseau was honoured by the Assembly of First Nations.

R E C E N T   E X H I B I T I O N S

S E L E C T E D   C O L L E C T I O N S

Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
City of Toronto Collection, Toronto, Ontario
Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum, Charlottetown, PEI
Dodd's Coal Mines, Edmonton, Alberta
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
Government of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Government of Ontario Collection, Toronto, Ontario
Guardian Capital Group, Toronto, Ontario
Hart House Art Gallery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Humber College Collection, Toronto, Ontario
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
The Montréal Museum of Fine Art, Montréal, Québec
Musée du Québec, Québec City, Québec
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario
Seneca College, Toronto, Ontario
Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

S E L E C T E D   B I B L I O G R A P H Y

Canadian Museum of Civilization, ed. In the Shadow of the Sun: Perspectives on Contemporary Native Art. Hull, Québec: The Museum, 1993.

Cardinal-Schubert, Joane. "In the red." In Borrowed Power: Essays on Cultural Appropriation, eds. Bruce Ziff and Pratima V. Rao, 122-133. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1997.

Cardinal-Schubert, Joane. Time for Dialogue: Contemporary Artists. Calgary, Alberta: Aboriginal Awareness Society, 1992.

Dewdney, Selwyn and Kenneth Kidd. Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 1963.

Dickason, Patricia Olive. Indian Arts in Canada. Ottawa, Ontario: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1972.

Hill, R. William. "Travels to the house of invention." Aboriginal Voices 5, no. 1 (January/February 1998): 62.

Hill, Tom and Elizabeth McLuhan. Norval Morisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers. Toronto: Methuen, 1984. [Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Art Gallery of Ontario, 17 February - 15 April 1984 and travelling to other galleries]

Menitove, Marcy, ed. The Permanent Collection: Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Thunder Bay, Ontario: The Gallery, 1986. [exhibition catalogue]

"More magical Morrisseaus." Toronto Star, 24 September 1997, p. D1, D5.

Morrisseau, Norval. Norval Morrisseau. Québec: Musée du Québec, 1966. [Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Musée de Québec, 15 June to 12 September 1966]

Morrisseau, Norval. Legends of My People: The Great Ojibway. Toronto, Ontario: Ryerson Press, 1965.

Morrisseau, Norval. "The history [excerpt from Morrisseau's Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention]." Canadian Art 14, no.3 (Fall 1997): 94-95.

Morrisseau, Norval and Donald C. Robinson. Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention. Toronto, Ontario: Key Porter Books, 1997.

"Norval Morrisseau." Aurora 14, no. 3 (Winter 1990): 48.

"Paintings from the Glenbow Collection." Calgary Herald, 27 July 1990, p. D1. [Review: Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta]

Philips, Ruth B. "Messages from the past: Oral traditions and contemporary Woodlands art." In In the Shadow of the Sun: Perspectives on Contemporary Native Art, 233-255. Hull, Québec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1993.

Review: Kinsman Robinson Galleries. Toronto Star, 7 May 1991, p. D1.

Robinson, Donald C. " Copper thunderbird: The legend of Norval Morrisseau." Art Post 9, no. 1 (1991): 11-13.

Robinson, Donald and Kenneth Williams. "Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention." Windspeaker 15, no.7 (November 1997): 12.

Schwartz, Herbert T. Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibway. Illustrated by Norval Morrisseau. Toronto, Ontario: McCelland and Stewart, 1969.

Sinclair, Lister, Jack Pollock, and Norval Morrisseau. The Art of Norval Morrisseau. Toronto, Ontario: Methuen, 1979.

Southcott, Mary E. The Sound of the Drum: The Sacred Art of the Anishnabe. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press, 1984.