Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau

“Morrisseau is a towering figure in the contemporary Canadian art world, a creative master, mentor, and visionary whose life and works will be discussed and debated for years to come. Carmen Robertson’s research and analysis of the uneasy relationship between the artist and the media is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature, not only on Morrisseau, but on the nature of contemporary Canadian culture and the difficulties faced by Aboriginal peoples attempting to define and affirm an identity within it.”

– Allan Ryan, Associate Professor, Canadian Studies/Art History, Carleton University

“Impressively researched, exceptionally well written and documented, informatively and accessibly organized and presented, Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau is an outstanding work of seminal scholarship.”

– John Taylor, MBR Bookwatch

“In addition to a cogent critique of the press and media coverage of Morrisseau’s life and work, Robertson offers a painstakingly thorough record and history of the emergence of contemporary Indigenous painting in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, told mainly through articles in the mainstream press, essays from exhibition catalogues, and quotes from Indigenous contemporaries. This account presents a rarely discussed aspect of Canadian art history and delivers an important contribution to scholarship in the field of Indigenous visual and cultural studies.”

– Bonnie Devine, Indigenous Visual Culture Program/ Ontario College of Art and Design University, University of Toronto Quarterly

“Offers a compelling linear historical overview of the relationship the media had with the artist. The timeline charts Norval as a forerunner of Indigenous artists, illustrating key artistic and personal events and the critical media pieces that documented and revealed how candid producers of this content viewed and treated Indigenous peoples and culture.”

– Jason Baerg, OCAD University, The Canadian Journal of Native Studies