Morrisseau’s relationship with Christianity has been the subject of considerable discourse. While Morrisseau himself grew tired of the topic, the artist was obviously excited by the symbolic language that religious art and objects possessed. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Morrisseau utilized the lexicon of Christian imagery and began to incorporate its motifs through his own lens. Two paintings dated to 1966, The Virgin Mary and Portrait of the Artist as Jesus Christ, show stylistic similarities to the present painting. In particular, we note the same distinctive teardrop shape to depict the eyes. The figure in Portrait of the Artist as Christ Figure is topped off with an imposing halo, which is similar in composition to that which can be found in Morrisseau’s Lily of the Mohawk (1974), as is the purple colour used for the robe.

Morrisseau commented on his use of unorthodox sources, stating that he was drawn toward religious works that had a “mystical or supernatural feeling to them.” He cited his admiration for Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa for both its artistic and sensual qualities but noted that “the Christ figure was always the one that was dominant for me” [1]. In Portrait of the Artist as Christ Figure, Morrisseau achieves his own competent display of a visionary experience. Morrisseau portrays his monumental figure against an enveloping flaxen field, which recalls the golden rays of a divine light. His garments are coloured with seductively beautiful pigments of heated red, pure white, strong blues, and green, which are segmented by Morrisseau’s velvety black formlines. The effect is one that simulates stained glass panels. Taken all together, Morrisseau endows Portrait of the Artist as Christ Figure with a palpable atmosphere of sanctity.

1. Jack Pollock, et. al, Norval Morrisseau, 1979, p. 45

References: Portrait of the Artist as Jesus Christ is reproduced in Lister Sinclair and Jack Pollock, Norval Morrisseau, (Toronto: Methune Publications, 1979), p. 82 as “Collection of Capital Guardian Growth, Toronto”; The Virgin Mary is reproduced in Greg A. Hill, et all, Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist, (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2006, p. 131, pl. 35). Lily of the Mohawk (1974) and Indian Jesus Christ (1974), reproduced in Hill, 2006, p. 132 & 133, pls. 36 & 37. For additional reading and infromation on Morrisseau’s relationship to Christianity, see Norval Morrisseau in Lister Sinclair and Jack Pollock, Norval Morrisseau, (Toronto: Methune Publications, 1979), p. 45-6; Duke Redbird & Henning Jacobsen, prod. The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau (Film), (Ottawa: National Film Board, 1974). For Morrisseau’s 1975 remark, “I am tired of hearing about Norval [...] torn apart by his allegiance both to Christianity and to the old Indian ways” see: Gary Michael Dault, “Ojibway Artists May Soon Find He’s Turned into a Living Legend,” Toronto Star, 28 August 1975.