| Description |
Framed Under Glass
28" x 25" (71.1 cm x 63.5 cm)
Numbered, Signed, Dated & Titled Lower Border 1981
Daphne Odjig
(1919 - 2016 First Nations / CAD) C.M., O.B.C., R.C.A.
A Canadian First Nations artist of Odawa-Potawatomi-English heritage. Her paintings are often characterized as Woodlands Style or as the pictographic style. She was the driving force behind the Professional Native Indian Artists Association, colloquially known as the Indian Group of Seven, a group considered a pioneer in bringing First Nations art to the forefront of Canada's art world. She received a number of awards for her work, including the Order of Canada, the Governor General's Award and five honorary doctorates. A Canada issue stamp featuring Odjig's Pow-wow Dancer was released in 2011.
Born in at Wiikwemkoong, the principal village on the Manitoulin Island Unceded Indian Reserve, to parents Dominic and Joyce (née Peachey) Odjig. She was the eldest of four children; her siblings are Stanley, Winnifred and Donavan. She was descended on her father's side from the great Potawatomi Chief Black Partridge. Her mother, an Englishwoman, met and married Dominic in England where he was serving during World War I. When Odjig was 13 years old, she suffered rheumatic fever and had to leave school.[8] Recuperating at home, she spent time with her paternal grandfather, Jonas Odjig (a stonecarver), and her parents - all of whom encouraged her to explore art. Odjig later said that her grandfather "played a great role in my life - he nurtured my creative spirit - he was the first one I ever drew with ... he was my first mentor." Odjig was also influenced by her mother, who embroidered, and her father, who liked to draw war scenes and his officers from his wartime experiences. Odjig once stated that "Art was always a part of our lives".
When she was 18, Odjig's mother and grandfather died. Odjig moved to Parry Sound, Ontario, and then at the outbreak of World War II, she moved to Toronto for job opportunities. She worked in factories and in her spare time explored art galleries such as the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario. She was particularly influenced by her first experiences of cubist art by artists such as Picasso.
In 1945, Odjig moved to British Columbia. In the 1960s she relocated to Manitoba. Her breakthrough into the art world happened in the early 1960s when she received critical acclaim for her pen and ink drawings of Cree people from northern Manitoba and their traditional community. She was concerned over the potential loss of traditional ways of living, and hoped that by preserving images of the people and their daily life in art, they could survive. In 1963 she was formally recognized as an artist when she was admitted to the British Columbia Federation of Artists. In 1971, she opened Odjig Indian Prints of Canada, a craft shop and small press, in Winnipeg. In 1973, Odjig founded the Professional Native Indian Artists Association, along with Alex Janvier and Norval Morrisseau. The group organised shows of their work and, although the group was short-lived, the members are considered critical pioneers in the development of indigenous art in Canada.
Her work is included in such public collections as Canada Council's Art Bank, the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Sequoyah Research Center and the Government of Israel. She was commissioned to create art by Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan, the Manitoba Museum, and for El Al, the Israeli airline. Odjig has been the subject of books and at least three documentaries. She was the recipient of a wide range of honors, including an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Laurentian University in 1982, and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Toronto in 1985, the Order of Canada in 1986, a Commemorative Medal for the 25th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada in 1992, an Honorary Doctorate of Education from Nipissing University in 1997, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Awards in 1998. She was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art in 1989. In 2007, Odjig received the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. Canada Post featured three of her paintings on Canadian postage stamps in February 2011. In 2007, she was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia. Odjig also received the Eagle Feather by Chief Wakageshigon for her artistic achievement.
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