Woodlands style, also called the Woodlands school, Legend painting, Medicine painting,"Norval Morrisseau." Native American Artworld. (retrieved 25 Oct 2010) and Anishnabe painting, is a genre of painting among First Nations and Native American artists from the Great Lakes area, including northern Ontario and southwestern Manitoba. The majority of the Woodlands artists are Anishinaabeg, notably the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi, as well as the Oji-Cree and the Cree.
Origin The style was founded by Norval Morrisseau (Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabe, 1932–2007), a First Nations Ojibwe artist from Northwestern Ontario, Canada.Berlo and Phillips, p. 229 He learned Ojibwe history and culture primarily from his grandfather Moses "Potan" Nanakonagos and in the 1950s collected oral history of his community. Their history and cosmology provided inspiration and subject matter for his paintings. He also drew upon his personal dreams and visions. Morrisseau said, "All my painting and drawing is really a continuation of the shaman's scrolls."Berlo and Phillips, p. 230 and the Eckankar religion. Ojibwe intaglio, pictographs, petrographs, and birch bark scrolls (), were stylistic antecedents of the Woodlands style.
Style This visionary style emphasizes outlines and X-ray views of people, animals, plants, and spiritual beings. Colours are vivid, even garish. While Morrisseau initially painted on birch bark, he mostly switched to Western art materials, such as acrylic, gouache, or watercolor paints on paper, wood panels, or canvas.
Woodlands school artists Ahmoo Angeconeb (Lac Seul First Nation, 1955–2017) Jackson Beardy (Anishinini, 1944–1984)Berlo and Phillips 231 Benjamin Chee Chee (Eabametoong Ojibwe, 1944–1977) Shirley Cheechoo (Cree, b. 1952) Kelly Church (Gun Lake Potawatomi/Odawa/Ojibwe, b. 1967) Eddy Cobiness (Buffalo Point Ojibwa, 1933–1996) Blake Debassige (M'Chigeeng Ojibwe, 1956–2022) Tom Hogan, (Ojibwe, 1955–2014) Abe Kakepetum (Sandy Lake Oji-Cree) Norval Morrisseau (ᒥᐢᒁᐱᐦᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᐦᑮ/ Miskwaabik Animikii) (Bingwi Neyaashi Ojibwe, ca. 1932–2007) Daphne Odjig (Odawa/Potawatomi, 1919–2016) Carl Ray (Sandy Lake Cree, 1943–1978) Roy Thomas (Long Lake Ojibway, 1949–2004) Jackie Traverse (Lake St. Martin Ojibway, b. 1968)
See also Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. Triple K Co-operative
Notes
References Berlo, Janet C. and Ruth B. Phillips. Native North American Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998: 97-8. .
Further reading Dawson, K.C.A. (1966) "The Kaministikwia Itaglio Dog Effigy Mound." Ontario Archeology. No.9 (June):25-84. Pollack, Jack. The Art of Norval Morrisseau. Toronto: Metheren Press, 1979. ASIN B001BY1VHU. Rajnovich, Grace. "Reading Rock Art." Interpreting the Indian Rock Paintings of the Canadian Shield. Dundum Press Ltd., 1994' Robinson, Donald C. Travels To the House of Invention. Bolton, Ontario: Key Porter Books, Ltd., 1997. . Selwyn Dewdney and King Kenneth E. Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes. University of Toronto Press, 1967.
External links
"Woodlands School of Life", Native Art in Canada Norval Morrisseau, Art Canada Institute Estate of Norval Morrisseau, official website