Canadian Artists from World War II to the Present: A Survey  
     
     
 
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  West Coast  
     
  On the West Coast, individual artists became known from the beginning of the 19th century. One notable example is the Haida carver Charles Edenshaw (1839-1920). The Haida culture was rich, sophisticated, and produced exquisite carved objects used for both ritualistic and practical purposes. Other cultures on the West Coast also produced memorable objects; some sites showcasing these objects may be accessed below.

Another noted West Coast artist from the early twentieth century was Mungo Martin, a Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) artist born in 1879, Fort Rupert, British Columbia, who died in1962; all along the West Coast (from Alaska to California), talented First Nations artists have lived and worked.





Charles Edenshaw (1839-1920)
Haida; Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia

Raven Steals the Sun. Undated. National Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec.
Argillite
63.5 cm

Argillite is a dark slate-like stone found in the Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii), which is initially soft but hardens with time. It can be polished to a high sheen. According to the National Museum of Civilization’s website, this sculpture "interprets a well-known Haida narrative of how Raven, the great mythmaker, stole the light that his grandfather jealously guarded, and cast the orb into the sky, where it became the sun.

"Edenshaw was one of many artists who earned their reputations by carving in argillite. These carvings were among the first and most enduring of the Northwest Coast art forms produced for the curio market. By the end of the nineteenth century, model totem poles like Edenshaw’s had come to typify the art of argillite carving."

This work is typical of the excellent level of carving and rich symbolism of Haida carvers—traditions that have been carried forward to today.












William Ronald (Bill) Reid (1920-1998)

Bill Reid, of mixed Scottish-German and Haida ancestry, rediscovered Haida traditions as a young adult, as a result of a visit to Haida Gwaii at the age of 23. He met his maternal grandfather, Charles Gladstone. This meeting changed his life. As noted at the website of the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, B.C., "At that time, Gladstone was one of a very few Haida men producing and selling silver and argillite works in the artistic tradition of their ancestors. During the visit, Reid saw and handled the carving tools of the great Haida artist, Charles Edenshaw. Gladstone had been trained by Edenshaw in the Haida tradition, which calls for a young man’s maternal uncle to provide his traditional art education." Reid went on to become noted as among Canada’s leading contemporary aboriginal artists, known not only for traditional works, such as canoes and totem poles, but also for jewelry as well as monumental sculptures, such as The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, Reid’s largest and most complex sculpture, the bronze casting of which is located in the Canadian Chancellery in Washington, D.C.

According to a eulogy delivered by Dr. George MacDonald at the memorial service held for Reid on 24 March 1998: "Canada has lost one of its greatest artists. A descendant of a lineage of great Haida artists which included Albert Edward Edenshaw (1812-1894) and Charlie Edenshaw (ca. 1838-1924), Bill Reid revived an artistic tradition that had survived only in museum collections. Drawing on the rich animistic traditions of Haida culture and mythology, he reinterpreted them for a sophisticated audience of connoisseurs around the world, emphasizing exquisite proportions and craftsmanship expressed in precious metals, choice woods, glass and works of paper. Bill Reid pushed Haida art in every direction, including scale—rendering a work like Raven and the First Men first as a golf-ball sized sculpture in boxwood, then as an elephant sized carving in yellow cedar. The Canadian Museum of Civilization is proud to have some of the major works of Bill Reid on permanent display."











Raven and the First Men. 1978-1980. Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
Yellow cedar (laminated).
More than life size.

This monumental sculpture demonstrates Reid’s creative abilities, particularly his ability to take a traditional myth and give it memorable visual form. The human beings emerging from the clam shell with the aid of Raven awaken humour from their poses, as well as awe from the power of the story of creation.



  
     
     
 
Introduction :: Pre-Contact Traditions :: Post-Contact First Nations Art: An Overview :: Arctic/Inuit Traditional Arts :: Arctic/Inuit Modern and Contemporary Arts :: Plains :: West Coast :: Eastern Woodlands :: Other Selected Contemporary First Nations Artists :: Additional Resources for First Nations Artists in Canada :: HOME