Thursday, December 31, 2009

Blog Master's Public Address VII

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~ The best wishes for 2010 ~
* I would like to wish all readers happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous 2010
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From left to right: Ugo Matulić a.k.a. Spirit Walker with his brother Jakša after the screening of one of the "Winnetou" films, based on German author Karl May novels;
Omiš, Croatia - July 1966 /Click on image to Enlarge/
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~ Source: An Unofficial Website of Omiš, Croatia at www.almissa.com
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I was born in Split, Croatia. As a child I saw, and continue to see, the Indians of North America as members of an outstanding race. My favourite childhood memory was the time when 'spagetti western' movies were filmed in Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia) and as a memento from that time were countless memories and a photograph with my brother and I in front of Indian totem pole in my hometown of Omiš, Croatia. When I emigrated to Canada my aim was to become a true Canadian and contribute to the advancement of this outstanding country. I also wanted to advance the cause of the First Nations Citizens. The best way I could do this appeared through advancing the cause of native art. Researching the background of Norval Morrisseau and other native artists and their lives has shown the adversity these artists had to overcome to become recognized. Some wonderful people emerged through this research, as did the hardships the art goddess imposed on many of these talented artists.
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The main purpose of this blog is to share information with anyone interested in the Anishinaabe (Woodland) School of Art Movement that Norval Morrisseau and other early aboriginal artists started in the late 1950's. From this start that is linked to the cliff paintings seen along the canoe routes of antiquity, and others yet to be found in other sparsely settled areas of North and South America, Canada and the World has become aware of the artistic genius of Our aboriginal culture. This artistic genius doesn't stop at visual art alone but extends to the written and performing arts that are also being recognized.
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The artistic genius of Norval Morrisseau was best described by Jack Pollock (1930-1992) who wrote: "...Norval, with his incredible ability with the formal problems of art (colour-design-space) and his commitment to the world of his people, the great Ojibway, give one the sense of power that only genius provides... It is sufficient to say that in the history of Canadian Painting, few have, and will remain giants. Norval shall."
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I appreciate all of you visiting the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG and I wish to thank all the contributors for encouraging me to continue with this monumental project which is dedicated entirely to protecting the integrity of Norval Morrisseau's art and the preservation of his artistic legacy.
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Hvala/Miigwetch,
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Ugo Matulić a.k.a. Spirit Walker, Calgary, Alberta CANADA
/spiritwalker2008@gmail.com/
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> The photograph of Ugo Matulić a.k.a. Spirit Walker with his brother Jakša was taken by the Indian totem in Radmanove Mlinice after the screening of one of the "Winnetou" films, based on German author Karl May novels;
Omiš, Croatia - July 1966.
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~ Source: www.almissa.com /Ugo Matulić - Webmaster/
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> Click HERE to view the above photograph in its original context
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Posted by at 1 comment:

Norval Morrisseau: 'Best Canadian painter ever'

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* This post has been previously published on January 23rd, 2008 (click HERE)
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/Opinions and thoughts of admirers of Norval Morrisseau art, art collectors, friends.../




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/Click on image to Enlarge/
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NORVAL MORRISSEAU: BEST CANADIAN PAINTER EVER

I'm guessing that when the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympics finally roll around in two years there's going to be lots of references to Aboriginal culture. Lots of dancing, drumming, native dress, references to aboriginal creation myths during the opening ceremonies; some elders will be brought in to bless the proceedings, that kind of thing. You can already see them using an Inuksuk (those Inuit 'rock piles') as one of their official icons. And as it should be. I have no problem with it, in fact I'm all for it. Like Australians we post-centennial, post-modern Canadians like to reach back to the deep time or the dream time when it comes time to show our face to the world. How real we are. The indigenous art. What inspired up and out from the land before the blight of colonialism. See, "we" are as ancient as everybody else. As old as Europe. I suppose its a kind of progress really, but a large dose of irony might still be necessary amidst all our mutual, terribly official self-congratulation.

Residential schools aside - check out Bill Reid on the twenty dollar bill. Bill Reid at the Vancouver airport. And my personal favourite, Bill Reid at the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

Many a Canadian white boy and girl has ventured forth into The Bush, however clumsily, trying to catch a whiff of the spirits. Going deep, getting back, oh yeah - getting real. Going back to the earth, because as the late, great Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen once wrote: "No one invited us here."

But I wonder if any "Canadian" (and yes, in the context of this post I do feel the need to put that word in quotation marks) ever saw this 'real spirit' behind the surface of what we now call Canada better and more vibrantly than the recently, dearly departed Norval Morrisseau. His paintings were literally churning from the inside out. Skeletal and skeletons. Often called "x-ray". People within animals and animals within people and animals within animals within people covered in flowers riding on a fish, and all of it singing in the most glorious colour. And so out there and dangerous, freaky, hallucinogenic, tripping the bounds of sanity, and erotic. And inspired by sacred, ancient aboriginal myth.

"Why am I alive?"he said in a 1991 interview with The Toronto Star. "To heal you guys who are more screwed up than I am. How can I heal you? With color. These are the colors you dreamt about one night."

I've adored his work for years, before I ever knew his name or even knew who the heck he was. I bought my first Norval Morrisseau print a few years back at some poster sale in Hamilton and I remember riding the GO bus back into Toronto with the thing spread out on my lap for the whole trip, taking it in grinning ear to ear, just dazzled. And that was just a print. A poster. I tacked it to my kitchen wall and it made me happy every time I looked at it.

If anyone was the God Father of the Renaissance of Aboriginal Art and Culture that has ultimately made Canada a much humbler, more honest, better and yes more beautiful place, it had to be him. And at its heart the work was a profound movement for justice. That which cannot be denied.

Marc Chagall famously compared him to Picasso.

Keep your Group of Seven's, sure.

But Norval Morrisseau was the Best Canadian Painter Ever.

Reid Neufeld
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Source: Global Health Nexus Blog /Global Health, Politics and Culture/
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Note from a Blog Master: I am encouraging others to send their thoughts, opinions and personal experiences that refer to Norval Morrisseau and his art.
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* Detailed information about the painting in this post unknown: "Flower of Life", © c. 1980s or 1990s Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

'Winter Wonderland' by Jana Mashonee

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~ Sung in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe)
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By JanaMashonee
-- /www.janamashonee.com /
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"We natives believe in the following saying: "Our God is Native. The Great Deity of the Five Planes is so. We are neither for nor against, We speak not of Christ nor of God. We say, 'Let them be.' We follow the Spirit on its Inward Journey of Soul through attitudes and attentions. Remember we are all in a big School and the Inner Master teaches us Experience over many Lifetimes."
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Norval Morrisseau
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Posted by at No comments:

Morrisseau History Detective Stories (Part XI)

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>>> Another painting from the Smithsonian Institution labelled as an "Inferior Counterfeit Morrisseau" by Ritchie 'Stardreamer' Sinclair... -
 
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"Lily of the Mohawk, 53"x23", © 1974 Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to enlarge/
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“The above presented image "Lily of the Mohawk (1974) from a private collection was exhibited at "NORVAL MORRISSEAU - SHAMAN ARTIST" - The first solo exhibition featuring a First Nations artist in 126-year history of the National Gallery of Canada. Exhibition held in Ottawa, Ontario from February 3rd to April 30th, 2006.-

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"Lily of the Mohawk", 72"x35", © 1979 Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to enlarge/

~ Note the inscription on the front of the canvas (bottom right) which includes the title, date (year) and recognizable signature of the artist -The above presented image of an authentic Morrisseau's painting is currently part of the Collection of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI); Formerly in the collection of R.E. Mansfield (1937-2007), donated to NMAI in 2003; Catalog number: 26/4095.

> Click HERE to view this painting in the archives of the NMAI.-

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Screen capture from 'Genuine vs. Fake' Category of defamatory www.morrisseau.com (30-DEC-2009) of the same paintings (Click HERE) when its webmaster Ritchie 'Stardreamer' Sinclair called the first presented as an "Authentic" and another one as an "Inferior Counterfeit Morrisseau" /Click on image to Enlarge/

~ Click HERE to see both of these images side by side. This confirms, more than once in the presentations on this blog, that Norval Morrisseau repeated many times his images.
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-BLOG MASTER'S COMMENT: It is clear as presented herein that Ritchie 'Stardreamer' Sinclair is labelling another proven authentic Norval Morrisseau painting which is in the archives of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) as an "Inferior Counterfeit Morrisseau" and it shows more than once in the presentation of this blog that his opinion cannot be trusted. It is also very disrespectful that he published this comparison on www.morrisseau.com the same day when I had given the great honour to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 - 1680)... click HERE.

~ Click HERE to view the other painting from the archives of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) labelled as an "Inferior Counterfeit Morrisseau" by Ritchie 'Stardreamer' Sinclair.

I am dissapointed that Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society is not honouring their mission statement which states:-"The Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society was established at the request of Norval Morrisseau to research, document and preserve his artistic achievement and protect the integrity of his art. It seeks to achieve this mission by establishing and maintaining a registry of his works, publishing and updating a catalogue raisonne of his artistic output and providing the necessary expertise to authenticate his art."-Why are they silent? Is their silence approval for what has been presented on www.morrisseau.com? If they truly care in "protecting the integrity of Norval Morrisseau's art" they would need to speak up. Their silence is hurting the legacy of the man they are supposed to protect and the longer they wait to publish a public statement regarding this matter presented herein, the longer the legacy of Norval Morrisseau will suffer.
-Miigwetch,
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Spirit Walker/spiritwalker2008@gmail.com /

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>>> Reference postes:
- Blog Master's Public Address V,
- Sinclair admits that he cannot tell what is and what is not an authentic Morrisseau? & - Deceptions of the main 'Norval Morrisseau Conspirators': Gabor Vadas, Bryant Ross, Donald Robinson & Ritchie 'Stardreamer' Sinclair (Part I).

* The paintings in this post: "Lily of the Mohawk, 53"x23", © 1974 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/; This painting has been exhibited at "NORVAL MORRISSEAU - SHAMAN ARTIST" - The first solo exhibition featuring a First Nations artist in 126-year history of the National Gallery of Canada. Exhibition held in Ottawa, Ontario from February 3rd to April 30th, 2006; "Lily of the Mohawk", 72"x35", © 1979 Norval Morrisseau; Currently part of the Collection of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI); Formerly in the collection of R.E. Mansfield (1937-2007), donated to NMAI in 2003; Catalog number: 26/4095.
Posted by at 1 comment:

Pearl McCarthy about Norval Morrisseau

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* This post has been previously published on November 16th, 2007 (click HERE)
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"Morrisseau's genius for unifying or braking space in his designs is astonishing, as sureness of line. It cannot be classed as primitive art, because both the ideas and the expression evince cultivated thought. As this mysticism has never been recorded he is breaking new ground."
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Posted by at 1 comment:

Catholic Influences on Norval Morrisseau

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* This post has been previously published on November 1st, 2008 (click HERE)
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- Norval Morrisseau's Prime Period [1970's]
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"Keeper of the Faith", © 1970s Norval Morrisseau
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"When the Jesuits came, the Indian was already around. The Indian did not understand them. He tried to understand them, what they were up to. He knew that they were going to be there for awhile. He knew how sad it was, seeing his people, how low they were put, how they had previously enjoyed living and needed to live freely again. How do we go about doing that now? We need images. We’re going to use images ourselves."
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Norval Morrisseau
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* The painting in this posting: "Keeper of the Faith", © c. 1970s Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/
Posted by at No comments:

Lister Sinclair about Norval Morrisseau

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* This post has been previously published on September 2nd, 2009 (click HERE)
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"Morrisseau, the artist, is a teller of tales. But tales such as these are only as powerful as the power of the person who tells them. Behind the visual imagery lies the power of his personal recital of a legend. Behind the legend lies the personal vision that explains everything. It may be difficult to distinguish Ojibway mythic elements from personal ones, or to separate Indian versions of Catholic iconography from Morrisseau's own set of emblems. He is at his most Indian when he offers an explanation of what he is doing. The purpose of doing it may have been to share with the world a heritage of the Great Ojibway that is proud and full of worth. The reason for doing it is very Indian. Where other artists might claim logic, tradition or authority as justification, Morrisseau always justifies himself by the most Indian of all explanations: the imperative of a personal, unique and private vision, the only real consistency which lies at the back of all his work. Everything, ultimately, is validated by Morrisseau's unanswerable claim to be responding to the demands of that personal, unique and private vision."
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Lister Sinclair (1921-2006) - was a broadcaster, writer, actor, critic, producer, director, mathematician, birder, music buff and sports nut! In a career lasting more than 60 years, his erudition, wit, grace and passionate delight in learning reminded us all what public broadcasting at its best can be.
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Source: THE ART OF NORVAL MORRISSEAU /Lister Sinclair, Jack Pollock, and Norval Morrisseau/; ISBN: 0-458-93820-3 /Toronto, Ontario: Methuen, 1979./
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Posted by at No comments:

"Christ", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau

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* This post has been previously published on August 20th, 2009 (click HERE)
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- Norval Morrisseau's Prime Period [1970's]--
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"Christ", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to Enlarge/
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"I have always been attracted to religious paintings, but only the ones that had that mystical or supernatural quality in them, especially Saint Teresa by Bernini. Just looking at Saint Teresa I get some kind of vibrations from it. I can close my eyes and feel them. That's great art, and it brings on that tingling sexual feeling. Other saints, like Saint Sebastian, do that as well. But the Christ figure was always the one that was dominant for me.That's why I say that Christ to me is still the greatest shaman, and that is why some religious visions are so complex, and so very hard to explain to people. So whenever you are looking at my pictures, you are looking at my visions, whatever they may be."
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Norval Morrisseau
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* The acrylic painting in this post: "Christ", 46"x21", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/
Posted by at No comments:

'Lily of the Mohawk', © 1974 Norval Morrisseau

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"Lily of the Mohawk, © 1974 Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to enlarge/
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Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 - 1680)
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"Lily of the Mohawks"
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Kateri Tekakwitha also known as Catherine Tekakwitha/Takwita, was born in 1656 in Gandahouhague, on the south bank of the Mohawk River, in a village called Ossernenon. The Mohawks were known as the fiercest of the "Five Nations" of the Iroquois. War was waged between the Mohawks and Algonquins. Kateri's mother, a christian Algonquin, was taken captive by a Mohawk warrior and soon they were married. They had a happy life together and eventually had a girl. They named her Tekakwitha, which means "she who moves forward". When she was four years old, a smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of her parents and baby brother. Their names are unknown. Kateri survived the disease but her eyesight was impaired. Her face was scarred and the disease left her weak the rest of her life. After five years of the sickness, the survivors of the village moved to the north bank of the river to begin a new life. Tekakwitha and her relatives moved into the Turtle Clan village called Gandaouague.
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She was then raised by aunts and an uncle, the Chief of the Turtle Clan.
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In 1667 the Jesuit missionaries Fremin, Bruyas, and Pierron spent three days in the lodge of Tekakwutga's uncle. They had accompanied the Mohawk delegation who had been to Quebec to conclude peace with the French. From the Blackrobes she received her first knowledge of Christianity.
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In 1670 the Blackrobes established St. Peter's Mission in Caughnawaga now Fonda, NY.
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In 1674, Fr. James de Lamberville arrived to take charge of the mission which included the Turtle Clan.
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Tekakwitha met Father de Lamberville when he visited her home. She told him about her desire to become baptized. Despite opposition to Christianity from her tribe and particularly her uncle, she met with the Blackrobe in secret. She began to take religious instructions. On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676, at the age of 20, she was baptized and given the name Kateri, Indian for Katherine. Her family wanted her to abandon her religion. She became the subject of increased contempt from the people of her village for her conversion, as well as her refusal to work on Sundays or to marry. She practice her religion unflinchingly in the face of almost unbearable opposition. Finally her uncle's lodge ceased to be a place of protection to her.
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With the help of Christian Indians she fled her village. Two months later and about two hundred miles through woods, rivers and swamps, Kateri arrived at the Sault.
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On Christmas Day, 1677, Kateri received her first Holy Communion. Here she lived in the cabin of a Christian Indian, Mary Teresa Tegaiaguenta. She and Kateri became friends. Both girls performed extraordinary penance. Kateri and her friend asked permission to start a religious community. The request was denied.
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At Caughnawaga she contributed to the community's economy while engaging in great personal sacrifices. She also continued to keep her personal vow of chastity.
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In 1678, Kateri was enrolled in the pious society called The Holy Family because of her extraordinary practices of all virtues.
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Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha died on April 17, 1680, when she was 24 years of age. When she died, much to the amazement of those in attendance, all the disfiguring scars on her face miraculously disappeared.
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Pope John Paul II beatified her in Rome on June 22, 1980, in the presence of hundreds of North American Indians. She is now known to us as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.
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Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha died on April 17, 1680, when she was 24 years of age. In the past, we commemorated her Feast Day on the day of her death. April 17 often falls during the season of Lent or during Easter Week. When the Bishops of the United States gathered for their fall meeting in Washington, DC, in November 1982, they voted to change the day of observance of the Feast of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha to July 14th. The new feast day will enable the Church in the United States to celebrate and honor Blessed Kateri without the feast day overlapping with the season of Lent. We prayerfully await the day that our Holy Father proclaims her Saint Kateri.
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Source: http://impurplehawk.com/kateri.html
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* The painting in this post: "Lily of the Mohawk, 53"x23", © 1974 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/; This painting has been exhibited at "NORVAL MORRISSEAU - SHAMAN ARTIST" - The first solo exhibition featuring a First Nations artist in 126-year history of the National Gallery of Canada. Exhibition held in Ottawa, Ontario from February 3rd to April 30th, 2006.
Posted by at No comments:

Authenticity known

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* This post has been previously published on May 27th, 2008 (click HERE)
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by Ross Montour
May, 2006
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Two weeks ago I attended a major retrospective of Ojibwa artist Norval Morrisseau at Canada's National Gallery of Art. There is nothing 'western' about Morrisseau's art. It grows powerfully and organically out of his own people's Native tradition. It makes no apologies on behalf of its creator - indeed it confronts western sensibilities and announces its own potency. Morrisseau could care less if the 'white man' never declared him credible; he knows his authenticity. Like the great Nanibooshou of his people's legends, Morrisseau shakes his great head, lays down his foot and the leaves fall from the trees. Compare this to European art at the turn of the last century. Photography, a creature of western technology, had only recently reared its head prompting artists to run for the cover of ingenuity. "Something new, something new," became the 'Om' of art. That most deconstructionist of artists Pablo Picasso sheds an interesting light on all of this. When he and others in his circle began co-opting forms from oceanic and African cultures it was an admission of the desperate extremes western artists would go to in order 'break new ground.'

And while their adoring publics were tittering about the greatness of these new maestros' wild and carnivorous works, the newly reforming masters of orthodoxy continued to mischaracterize the sources of Picasso et al's 'inspiration.' They continued to look down their noses at the 'primitives' (savages) who truly created the source art and their cultures. In Canada, Native artists who painted in styles and forms that grew authentically out of their own cultures had to live with the fact that in their own land their works were 'banished' from the cultural temples of white society - i.e. the major public art galleries. For over 40 years the 'esteemed' Art Gallery of Ontario revealed its ethnocentricity by declaring the works of Morrisseau and others as being fit only to be shown in ethnographic and natural history museums. How barren!

Back to the Morrisseau exhibition in Ottawa. After viewing the showing, my wife and I decided to take in the works of the permanent collection. Walking through hall after hall of Flemish masters and Italian renaissance masters etc., we stumbled across a room labeled 'New York School.' Entering the room we were immediately confronted by two massive colour field paintings by Barnett Newman. One of these - 'Red Stripe' - was a triptych nearly 20 feet in height. It almost demanded an act of worship be done. I laughed out loud because, for one thing, it reminded me of my first viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Remember the scene at the end when the cavemen come upon the huge blank monolith, the drums pounding out the rhythm in the soundtrack... Enigmatic to say the least! In the end they worshipped nothing. My sincerest thanks for your patience in reading this rant. I make no apology though - I am, after all, a Mohawk.
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Ross Montour
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Source: Robert Genn's "The Painter's Keys"
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* The painting in this posting: "Shaman Warrior", 48"x23", © 1990s Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/
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'It Came Upon a Midnight Clear' by Jana Mashonee

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~ Sung in Oneida
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By JanaMashonee
-- /www.janamashonee.com /
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"We natives believe in the following saying: "Our God is Native. The Great Deity of the Five Planes is so. We are neither for nor against, We speak not of Christ nor of God. We say, 'Let them be.' We follow the Spirit on its Inward Journey of Soul through attitudes and attentions. Remember we are all in a big School and the Inner Master teaches us Experience over many Lifetimes."
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Norval Morrisseau
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Posted by at No comments:
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