EA Studios Calgary’s untitled Norval Morrisseau canvas is now on public view at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, as part of the Gallery’s new exhibit, Morrisseau Masterwork, on display until January 3. The painting, measuring 22 feet long by 9.4 feet high, had not been shown publicly since 1986. EA Studios is working with the Gallery on the painting’s conservation, mounting the rolled, raw canvas onto a stretcher for the first time in decades.

The Woodland Style mural depicts a gathering of adults, children, animals, birds and spiritual beings. Morrisseau painted it while living and working above EA Studios’ original location at the Maligne Canyon Tea House in Jasper, during the years the studio sponsored him. As EA Studios director Joseph Helmy told CBC, “This piece was actually painted for my father.” He added that his father had never displayed it before now, and that the canvas had been shown only briefly at two Edmonton exhibitions before going into storage.

Thunder Bay Art Gallery executive director Matthew Hills noted that the piece reflects an early period in Morrisseau’s move toward larger scale canvases, and gives the Gallery a chance to explore a stretch of his career that hasn’t been examined publicly in decades. Thunder Bay also holds particular significance as Morrisseau’s home territory.

Learn more about the story from CBC News:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/morrisseau-artwork-unveiling-thunder-bay-from-calgary-9.7349750