Norval Morrisseau 1931 - 2007

Native Art Gallery, Toronto (purchased directly from the artist in 1990)

Private Collection, Ontario

Norval Morrisseau is one of Canada's most internationally recognizable artists. He was the founder of the 'Woodland School' of painting whose style often depicts x-ray-like representations of people and animals where the figures' inside spirit and outside physical bodies are linked by dark lines which represent mystical or shamanistic energy.

Morrisseau felt his artistic calling from an early age and is quoted as having said; I am a born artist. Some people are born artists and others are not. This is also the same way with the Indians. I have grown up with many stories and legends of my people and I have made paintings of these legends. Morrisseau was still a child when he became fascinated by shamanism, a practice that would inform his work throughout his lifetime. His artistic development coincided with an explosion in western modern art when artists like Picasso and Pollock developed a keen interest in Aboriginal art and began incorporating aspect of these practices in their work. Morrisseau's deep understanding of First Nations culture combined with his exposure to modern art positioned his work uniquely in that he became the first native artist to successfully incorporate traditional native modes of representation with a modern aesthetic.