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Norval Morrisseau
Norval Morrisseau, (March 14, 1932 – December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Aboriginal Canadian artist. Known as the "Picasso of the North", Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality and mysticism. His style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colors. He founded the Woodlands School of Canadian art and was a prominent member of the “Indian Group of Seven”.
An Anishinabe, He was born March 14, 1931 on the Sand Point, Ojibway reserve near Beardmore, Ontario. Norval is the founder of a Canadian school of art called Woodland, or sometimes Legend or Medicine painting. He spent his youth in remote isolation in Northern Ontario near Thunder Bay, where his artistic style developed without the usual influences of other artists. He was made a Member of the order of Canada. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
In 2005 and 2006, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa organized a retrospective of his work. This was the first time that the Gallery dedicated a solo exposition to a native artist.
In the final months of his life, the artist used a wheelchair and lived in a residence in Nanaimo, British Columbia.He died of cardiac arrest—complications arising from Parkinson's disease on
December 4, 2007 in Toronto General Hospital. He was buried after a private ceremony in Northern Ontario next to the grave of his former wife, Harriet, on Anishinaabe land.
