Norval Morrisseau masterwork not seen for 40 years unveiled at Thunder Bay Art Gallery

Rare Norval Morrisseau masterpiece unveiled in Thunder Bay, Ont.

After 40 years in storage, a massive painting by Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau has been unveiled at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in northwestern Ontario.

The Morrisseau Masterwork painting, at roughly 6.7 metres long and just over three metres high, hadn't been viewed publicly since 1986.

It's on loan from EA Studios Calgary, which is collaborating with the gallery to mount the rolled, raw canvas from its collection on a stretcher — an auxiliary frame with expandable joints —  for conservation.

The large Woodland Style mural depicts a gathering of adults, children, animals, birds and spiritual beings in a scene with natural elements.

“I’m really excited. I have to tell you, the first time I unrolled it with our contractors, it was very overwhelming, but in a positive sense," said Joseph Helmy, director of EA Studios Calgary. "This piece, it’s just very spiritual. It’s very powerful. It’s really hard to describe.

“This piece, I think, is going to really bring a lot of people together ...," Helmy said.

“From what I’ve learned through the stories that my father has shared and through the expertise of Mr. Jonathan Manovich, Norval’s paintings were created to tell his stories, but they were also created to bridge Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together — and that’s what I hope that this painting will do.”

This masterwork by Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau had been in storage for four decades, before it was unveiled at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery on Friday. (Marc Doucette/CBC)Helmy’s family began their relationship with the artist in 1985 when his father, Galal, was recommended to sponsor Morrisseau’s work by Winnipeg art dealer Robert Checkwitch. 

Helmy said the artist called and told his father he dreamt he was painting for him in the Canadian Rockies, where he resided in Jasper, which intrigued him and prompted him to book Morrisseau on a flight to Alberta.

Morrisseau continued to live and paint in a studio above EA Studios Calgary, which operated at the time out of the Maligne Canyon Tea House, during the winters until 1987.

“This piece was actually painted for my father and he actually never had this hung on the wall before,” Helmy said. It was shown only at a couple of Edmonton exhibitions and last shown in 1986, he added.

The art studio has been working since 2025 with the Thunder Bay Art Gallery to unveil the artwork. 

“We really have enjoyed working with them over the last two years to make this event happen,” Helmy said.

Gallery staff mount the artwork and prepare to hang it for public to view in Thunder Bay. (Marc Doucette/CBC)This piece has returned to the place where Norval was born, Helmy noted. He said he couldn’t think of a “better place to start showing this piece back to the public view again."

Morrisseau, who died in 2007 at age 75, is considered the grandfather of contemporary Indigenous art in Canada. He was from Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation, also known as Sand Point First Nation, in northwestern Ontario.

“Many people associate Morrisseau with some of the larger works, Androgyny, for instance, at the governor general’s home, and when you see the Order of Canada inducted, that’s a Morrisseau piece behind it and that’s a huge epic canvas as well,” said Matthew Hills, the Thunder Bay gallery’s executive director.

“But … it’s a triptych, meaning there are three components of the canvas, and this is one large piece. So in many ways, we feel like this is the early period of Morrisseau starting to work bigger on more epic, larger canvases and really explore some of his artistic genius.”

It’s an entry point for the gallery to something that hasn’t been talked about in the last 40 years and hasn’t been examined, Hills said.

In addition to supporting the piece’s conservation, Hills said, the gallery can explore some of the art’s history. It can also share it in a territory and region associated with Morrisseau.

“We’re really happy to have this opportunity to show it off, and to do some conservation work on it and restore it to its full glory."

Hills said the gallery invites the public to come out and take a look. The Morrisseau Masterwork will be on view until Jan. 3. 

Nicky Shaw is a reporter for CBC Thunder Bay. She graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism and a minor in Environmental and Climate Humanities from Carleton University. Aligning with her passion for covering global environmental and humanitarian issues, she has worked to develop in-depth multimedia content that shares the diverse experiences of people in Northwestern Ontario.