The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau, 1974, is a small window into Copper Thunderbird, the Anishnaabe artist whose unique style and vision stand out in every one of his works.
Morrisseau was prolific and had a singular vision that led to the creation of his own artistic movement, the Woodland School, which has inspired many Indigenous artists. Watching this video, I realized how little I actually knew about him – and how many ‘facts’ I had wrong.
My main discovery was how deeply his work is rooted in spirituality. His starting point was the spirituality of his Indigenous ancestors. These stories and legends, passed on to him by his grandfather, were meant to remain in the community. He explains how a vision of the divinity reassuring him of the ongoing divine presence in his life was the starting point of his art. Some of those community members were displeased that he shared the stories. A gap in the video is the absence of any explanation as to whether his community came to accept and support his art. I assume they did as other Indigenous artists were inspired by him and followed in his footsteps in sharing those stories.
Morrisseau considered himself a Christian and was inspired by Christian art and spirituality as well. While the Indigenous stories and imagery always dominates, the western religious influences also appear at times. It was something he struggled to integrate into his life and art. Note: Several years after this film, he would no longer consider himself a Christian and joined a small, esoteric religion. Thankfully, the documentary allows Morrisseau to speak about his art, life, spiritual inspirations and how he sought to reconcile his Indigenous ancestry and western culture and religion.
Given he was self-taught, the strength of his artistic expression from so early in his artistic journey is remarkable. Unfortunately, another gap is that he offers no explanation as to why he started expressing himself in visual art, which he did while living in a remote northern Ontario area. Art was not something widely practiced around him, but he still dove in wholeheartedly. That is a big ‘why’ that is not addressed.
The documentary also provided context about his life, showing clips of him with his wife and some of their children when they were very young. Unfortunately, it avoided the political critiques inherent in some of his work. There was no mention of his mural in the Indians of Canada pavilion at Expo 67 that had happened several years before the film’s release. That would have been the occasion when the greatest number of people saw his work, and the overarching theme of criticism of the treatment of Indigenous peoples was present. What that milestone event meant for him is not addressed.
Overall, the documentary captures Morrisseau in his early fifties, and he would go on to live for 20 years more. It is a window into him up to that moment. While that window is limited, it is informative. The brevity of the video at 28 minutes and the many layers of the subject leave a range of topics undeveloped. Further limiting the development of Morrisseau’s story is the extensive inclusion of stories from the art dealer who discovered Morrisseau. Helpful context, but it took away from understanding Morrisseau.
Unfortunately, there do not seem to be many other documentaries about Morrisseau, a great artist of the 20thcentury, so this is the glimpse we have into his spirit and work.
Note: This is the first of my side quests into documentaries of the National Film Board of Canada – I only recently thought of the NFB as a good place to find some profiles of artists.
Morrisseau was prolific and had a singular vision that led to the creation of his own artistic movement, the Woodland School, which has inspired many Indigenous artists. Watching this video, I realized how little I actually knew about him – and how many ‘facts’ I had wrong.
My main discovery was how deeply his work is rooted in spirituality. His starting point was the spirituality of his Indigenous ancestors. These stories and legends, passed on to him by his grandfather, were meant to remain in the community. He explains how a vision of the divinity reassuring him of the ongoing divine presence in his life was the starting point of his art. Some of those community members were displeased that he shared the stories. A gap in the video is the absence of any explanation as to whether his community came to accept and support his art. I assume they did as other Indigenous artists were inspired by him and followed in his footsteps in sharing those stories.
Morrisseau considered himself a Christian and was inspired by Christian art and spirituality as well. While the Indigenous stories and imagery always dominates, the western religious influences also appear at times. It was something he struggled to integrate into his life and art. Note: Several years after this film, he would no longer consider himself a Christian and joined a small, esoteric religion. Thankfully, the documentary allows Morrisseau to speak about his art, life, spiritual inspirations and how he sought to reconcile his Indigenous ancestry and western culture and religion.
Given he was self-taught, the strength of his artistic expression from so early in his artistic journey is remarkable. Unfortunately, another gap is that he offers no explanation as to why he started expressing himself in visual art, which he did while living in a remote northern Ontario area. Art was not something widely practiced around him, but he still dove in wholeheartedly. That is a big ‘why’ that is not addressed.
The documentary also provided context about his life, showing clips of him with his wife and some of their children when they were very young. Unfortunately, it avoided the political critiques inherent in some of his work. There was no mention of his mural in the Indians of Canada pavilion at Expo 67 that had happened several years before the film’s release. That would have been the occasion when the greatest number of people saw his work, and the overarching theme of criticism of the treatment of Indigenous peoples was present. What that milestone event meant for him is not addressed.
Overall, the documentary captures Morrisseau in his early fifties, and he would go on to live for 20 years more. It is a window into him up to that moment. While that window is limited, it is informative. The brevity of the video at 28 minutes and the many layers of the subject leave a range of topics undeveloped. Further limiting the development of Morrisseau’s story is the extensive inclusion of stories from the art dealer who discovered Morrisseau. Helpful context, but it took away from understanding Morrisseau.
Unfortunately, there do not seem to be many other documentaries about Morrisseau, a great artist of the 20thcentury, so this is the glimpse we have into his spirit and work.
Note: This is the first of my side quests into documentaries of the National Film Board of Canada – I only recently thought of the NFB as a good place to find some profiles of artists.
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