Releasing: April 1, 2027

Essential
Norval Morrisseau1955–1985

Edited by Carmen Robertson
and Ruth B. Phillips

Essential Norval Morrisseau, 1955–1985 offers the most authoritative and comprehensive account to date of the internationally celebrated artist known as the Picasso of the North. The work of Norval Morrisseau (1932–2007) is significant for its depiction of Anishinaabe stories, its exploration of cultural tensions between Indigenous, Canadian, and European traditions, and its profound spiritualism.

Defined by bold lines, radiant colour, and powerful symbolic forms, Morrisseau’s art is instantly recognizable, and yet it is often encountered without the cultural and historical frameworks that shape its meaning. Its widespread circulation—including the production of fraudulent works linked to a forgery ring active from 1996 to 2019—has underscored the need for authoritative scholarship on this groundbreaking artist.

Bringing together original essays by leading Indigenous scholars, including Alan Corbiere, Bonnie Devine, Linda Grussani, Richard Hill, and Gerald McMaster, Essential Norval Morrisseau, 1955–1985 draws on the results of a multi-year research initiative led by art historians Carmen Robertson and Ruth B. Phillips, in collaboration with the Norval Morrisseau Heritage Society. With more than two hundred works of art, many previously unpublished, alongside first-person reflections from artists, friends, and knowledge keepers, the book traces the emergence of Morrisseau’s groundbreaking visual language and the profound impact of his work on contemporary Indigenous art in Canada and beyond.

Grounded by a multivocal perspective, Essential Norval Morrisseau, 1955–1985 moves beyond conventional art history to highlight relationships and lived experience. The book’s essays, oral histories, archival materials, and visual narratives reveal Morrisseau as a cultural force whose legacy should not be ignored.

Banner Image: Norval Morrisseau, Artist and Shaman between Two Worlds, 1980. Collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, purchased 2006 (41869). © Estate of Norval Morrisseau.

About the Editors:

Carmen Robertson

Carmen Robertson is a Scots-Lakota art historian and curator and a professor of art history at Carleton University, Ottawa. She is the author of Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau: Art and the Colonial Narrative in the Canadian Media (University of Manitoba Press, 2016) and Norval Morrisseau: Life & Work (Art Canada Institute, 2016).

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Ruth B. Phillips

Ruth B. Phillips is a leading scholar and curator of Indigenous art in North America. Her groundbreaking 2011 publication Museum Pieces: Toward the Indigenization of Canadian Museums was nominated for the Donner Prize. She has served as a Canada Research Chair in Modern Culture and co-founded GRASAC, the Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Cultures, which provides Indigenous community members, academics, and museums with digital access to heritage held in repositories around the world.

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In the classroom

Diptych paintings by Norval Morrisseau made in the Woodland style with bright colours and thick black lines. In one panel, Morrisseau is represented as a young boy, while the other panel shows his maternal grandfather. Both are surrounded by stylized animals and shapes.

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Land & Indigenous Worldviews

through the art of

Norval Morrisseau

Grades 9-12Land & Indigenous Worldviews through the art of Norval Morrisseau

Norval Morrisseau is considered by many to be the Mishomis, or grandfather, of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada.

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies, Visual Arts

Mixed-media painting layering Indigenous portraits, historical images, text, and paint drips in red and ochre tones

Learn About

Finding Your Voice

through the art of

Carl Beam

Grades 9-12Finding Your Voice
through the art of Carl Beam

Through his work in painting, printmaking, ceramics, and performance art, Carl Beam challenged assumptions about First Nations creativity and the style and content of contemporary Indigenous art.

Indigenous Studies, Canadian History, Visual Arts