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Artworks
NORVAL MORRISSEAU, C.M. (1931-2007) ANISHINAABE (OJIBWE)
Serpent Legend (Medicine Serpent, Four Figures, and Fish), 1972acrylic on vinyl, 16 x 20 in (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
signed and dated, "ᐅᓴᐊ·ᐱᑯᐱᓀᓯ / (72)";
inscribed in ink by the artist, verso, "the serpent represents medicine. and the four figures represents / four thousand years of oral history of the grand medicine society of / the three fires the power is held up by Power of water which is / the fish.".
LOT 117
ESTIMATE: $4,000 — $6,000
PRICE REALIZED: $13,200.00Further images
In this work on paper, dated to 1972, Norval Morrisseau has provided us with considerable didactic information in pencil on the verso that helps us to understand the imagery present....In this work on paper, dated to 1972, Norval Morrisseau has provided us with considerable didactic information in pencil on the verso that helps us to understand the imagery present. The artist shares that we are witnessing an interaction of the Grand Medicine Society, or the Midewiwin, with the Medicine Serpent, a large horned snake.
In some accounts of the foundational legends of the Midewiwin involves the Medicine Serpent. According to the story, when diseases brought by Europeans started decimating indigenous populations, the Annishinaabe (Ojibwe) were instructed through a vision by a spirit to prepare for the arrival of this great serpent. This serpent would teach them healing rituals, ceremonies, and herbal remedies—knowledge that would form the basis of the Midewiwin practices.
For other examples of the Medicine Serpent motif in Morrisseau's works, see Lister Sinclair and Jack Pollock, The Art of Norval Morrisseau, (Toronto: Methuen Publications, 1979), pp. 63, 72, and 76.
Provenance
Ex. Collection Mr. Roland Roy McMurtry, OC OOnt KC.
Possibly purchased by the above from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ont
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