Post by Okwes on Jan 19, 2008 17:02:05 GMT -5
Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau buried after month-long dispute
Norval Morrisseau, one of Canadian's most acclaimed aboriginal artists,
has finally been laid to rest after a protracted battle between his
children and the man who cared for him in his final years.
Morrisseau was 75 when he passed away Dec. 4, 2007, in a Toronto
hospital after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
[Norval Morrisseau was dubbed the 'Picasso of the North' for his
striking style, as shown in this 1990 work titled Thunderbird Shaman
Teaching People.] Norval Morrisseau was dubbed the 'Picasso of the
North' for his striking style, as shown in this 1990 work titled
Thunderbird Shaman Teaching People.
(Canadian Press)
Gabe Vadas, who befriended the artist and cared for him for more than a
dozen years, confirmed to the Toronto Star that Morrisseau was buried in
a private ceremony earlier this week on a reserve in northwestern
Ontario, next to his wife.
Vadas, the artist's seven children and Morrisseau's brother were all in
a dispute over the artist's final wishes.
Vadas, who considers himself Morrisseau's "spiritual son," contended the
artist had told him he wanted to be cremated. Bernard Morrisseau, the
artist's brother, agreed with Vadas and also claimed the artist had
expressed a wish to have his ashes spread over Lake Nipigon.
But the seven Morrisseau children, from whom he had been estranged for
two decades, showed up at the funeral in Toronto with a lawyer to halt
the cremation.
They said their father should be buried next to their mother, Harriet
Kakegamic, who died in 1995. The pair were married in 1957 but separated
18 years later.
Vadas told the Star that the dispute was resolved peacefully.
"[Norval] was such a graceful and dignified man that he would say that,
'If it means that much for people for me to be buried intact, then so be
it.' "
The burial may not put much to rest. There is still the question of the
artist's legacy. It's unclear whether Morrisseau left a formal or
written will.
Born and raised near Thunder Bay, Ont., Morrisseau was an
internationally recognized artist who was appointed to the Order of
Canada in 1978.
Known for taking traditional Ojibway icons and turning them into vivid
images using Western media, Morrisseau became the founder of what is
known as the Woodland style of painting.
The artist's work has been showcased in major galleries around the
world. He was the only Canadian painter shown at Paris's Georges
Pompidou Centre in 1989 as part of the French celebration of the
bicentennial of the French Revolution.
The National Gallery in Ottawa featured a retrospective of Morrisseau's
work in 2006. That exhibit is now at the National Museum of the American
Indian in New York.
Norval Morrisseau, one of Canadian's most acclaimed aboriginal artists,
has finally been laid to rest after a protracted battle between his
children and the man who cared for him in his final years.
Morrisseau was 75 when he passed away Dec. 4, 2007, in a Toronto
hospital after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
[Norval Morrisseau was dubbed the 'Picasso of the North' for his
striking style, as shown in this 1990 work titled Thunderbird Shaman
Teaching People.] Norval Morrisseau was dubbed the 'Picasso of the
North' for his striking style, as shown in this 1990 work titled
Thunderbird Shaman Teaching People.
(Canadian Press)
Gabe Vadas, who befriended the artist and cared for him for more than a
dozen years, confirmed to the Toronto Star that Morrisseau was buried in
a private ceremony earlier this week on a reserve in northwestern
Ontario, next to his wife.
Vadas, the artist's seven children and Morrisseau's brother were all in
a dispute over the artist's final wishes.
Vadas, who considers himself Morrisseau's "spiritual son," contended the
artist had told him he wanted to be cremated. Bernard Morrisseau, the
artist's brother, agreed with Vadas and also claimed the artist had
expressed a wish to have his ashes spread over Lake Nipigon.
But the seven Morrisseau children, from whom he had been estranged for
two decades, showed up at the funeral in Toronto with a lawyer to halt
the cremation.
They said their father should be buried next to their mother, Harriet
Kakegamic, who died in 1995. The pair were married in 1957 but separated
18 years later.
Vadas told the Star that the dispute was resolved peacefully.
"[Norval] was such a graceful and dignified man that he would say that,
'If it means that much for people for me to be buried intact, then so be
it.' "
The burial may not put much to rest. There is still the question of the
artist's legacy. It's unclear whether Morrisseau left a formal or
written will.
Born and raised near Thunder Bay, Ont., Morrisseau was an
internationally recognized artist who was appointed to the Order of
Canada in 1978.
Known for taking traditional Ojibway icons and turning them into vivid
images using Western media, Morrisseau became the founder of what is
known as the Woodland style of painting.
The artist's work has been showcased in major galleries around the
world. He was the only Canadian painter shown at Paris's Georges
Pompidou Centre in 1989 as part of the French celebration of the
bicentennial of the French Revolution.
The National Gallery in Ottawa featured a retrospective of Morrisseau's
work in 2006. That exhibit is now at the National Museum of the American
Indian in New York.
