Norval Morrisseau (1931-2007) Artist as Frog in Life Cycle, n.d. Oil on Canvas. Collection of the Art Gallery of Algoma. Gift of the Ontario Heritage Foundation

Norval Morrisseau

Summer 2024

​Norval Morrisseau is the most known and recognized Indigenous artist in Canada. He is considered the founder of the Woodland School of art, which is the art style based on the traditional Indigenous legends. It is unmistakably recognizable through the use of bright colours, bold lines, heavy black outlines of forms and X-ray views of people, animals and spirits.
 
Morrisseau was the first Ojibwa to break traditional rules by depicting spiritual knowledge in his paintings. Morrisseau’s images carry powerful messages, they are full of symbolism and spirituality translating oral into visual stories.  
 
Norval Morrisseau was born in 1931 in Beardmore, Northern Ontario. In keeping with Anishinaabe tradition, he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents at Sand Point reserve on the shores of Lake Nipigon, Ontario. There, Morrisseau learned the stories and cultural traditions of his peoples. At age six, Morrisseau was sent to a residential school, St. Joseph’s Indian Residential School in Fort William, where he faced abuse which left permanent emotional scars on him and influenced his life.
 
His life was complex but always included making art. By the 1960’s he began having some commercial success. In 1969 he had a solo exhibition in France, which added to Morrisseau’s credibility as an artist and established his international reputation. It is also when he became known as “Picasso of the North,”. In 1972, there was a joint exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery with Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier and Daphne Odjig named Treaty Numbers 23, 287 and 1171 referring to the Numbered Treaties of their respective bands. It was a ground breaking exhibition where Indigenous modern art was brought into the forefront for its artistic merit. In 1973, the Indian Group of Seven was formed in Winnipeg at Daphne Odjig’s home. Norval Morrisseau was one of the founding members. The Group enabled artists to discuss their mutual concerns about art, support each other and have joint exhibitions. It all contributed to the promotion, understanding and recognition of Indigenous art on the Canadian art scene. 
 
Over time Morrisseau became known and recognized as an artist but also his troubled life was ongoingly scrutinized by the press. He spent some time in the Sault and as a result of that, there is a collection of his works at the Art Gallery of Algoma as well as many artworks in private collections in the city.
 

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