a.k.a. Alexis; Allxcee; Alexix; Alexcie; Alexie
b. 1853/57, Port Simpson, British Columbia
d. 1944
First Nations Affiliation: Tsimshain

A painter and carver, mentored in the tradition of his mother's (Tsimshian, Gildzano Tribe) nation, Freddie Alexcee (Wiksomnen) witnessed the massive societal changes wrought by western disease, the influx of gold-diggers, traders and missionaries, and racist legislation banning sacred ceremonial practices until 1951. Alexcee is noted for a small body of hybrid works fusing traditional and Western art forms; one stylistic innovation is his use of painted, as opposed to carved detail on totem poles, model houses, and figures. He was an accomplished painter of panoramic land and sea-scapes, and received commissions for a series of glass lantern slides illustrating Tsimshian legends and history, in addition to curios, paintings, and carvings for the Hudson Bay Company.

S E L E C T E D   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 Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Thomas Burke Memorial, Washington State Museum, Seattle, Washington
University of BC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver City Museum, British Columbia
Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London, England

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

Barbeau, Marius. Exhibition of West Coast Art: Native and Modern. Ottawa, Ontario: National Gallery of Canada, 1927.

Garfield, Viola. Tsimshain Clan and Society. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 1939.

Harper, Russel J. Early Painter and Engravers in Canada. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 1970.

Hawker, Ronald W. "Frederick Alexie, Euro-Canadian: Discussions of a First Nations artist." Canadian Journal of Native Studies 11, no. 2 (1991): 229-252.

Simmons, Deidre. "Frederick Alexcee, Indian artist (c.1857 to c.1944)." Journal of Canadian Art History 14, no. 2 (1991): 83-93.