, 2008. Fibreglass stone and airplane. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2011. Photo © Roman März](/images/content/menuSeeGallery.png)
Benjamin West
The Death of General Wolfe (Detail), 1770
oil on canvas
152.6 x 214.5 cm
Transfer from the Canadian War Memorials, 1921 (Gift of the 2nd Duke of Westminster, England, 1918)
National Gallery of Canada (no. 8007)
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Artist and Shaman between Two Worlds, 1980
Norval (called Copper Thunderbird) Morrisseau
Canadian, 1932
- 2007
acrylic on canvas
175 x 282 cm
Purchased 2006
National Gallery of Canada (no. 41869)
Copyright Norval Morrisseau / Gabe Vadas. Courtesy of Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Toronto.
This is one of the best examples of Morrisseau’s early forays towards a new visual vocabulary. Although a single canvas, it is effectively divided in two halves. The thunderbird and snake at the top create a dramatic combination of these two creatures and a coming together of two spiritual realms, the thunderbird of the upper world and the serpent of the underworld. The two-headed snake extends outwards on each side of the thunderbird’s head; its elongated body becomes the backbone of the thunderbird’s wings, which then terminate on each side with a head of the snake.
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More from Norval (called Copper Thunderbird) Morrisseau
Untitled (Thunderbird with Inner Spirit and Snake)37.8 x 18 cm irregular
Untitled (Shaman and Water Serpent)57 x 76 cm
Sacred Bear and Moose with Nature's Life Force24.5 x 32.5 cm
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