— Musings —06.16.2010 10:08 PM
Haida Gwaii
This is wonderful news – and long, long overdue.
To celebrate, here’s a detail from Bill Reid’s extraordinary Spirit of Haida Gwaii sculpture – which you may have spotted at Vancouver’s airport, or the Canadian embassy in Washington, or (almost certainly, since 2004) on the back of a twenty dollar bill. To me, he was the greatest Canadian artist.
Bill Reid was an enormous talent – but I rate Norval Morrisseau at least equal!
http://www.norvalmorrisseau.com/
Great news indeed – congrats Haida!
All true, though you forgot to mention another important location of this masterwork – the Canadian Musueum of Civilization (where this particular photo was taken).
Further detail from the CMC web site: “…this plaster master pattern of The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, his largest and most complex sculpture, was made by hand by Bill Reid at his studio on Granville Island in Vancouver, then shipped to the Tallix Foundry in New York State to make the pouring moulds for the two bronze casts of the work: The Black Canoe, now at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, and The Jade Canoe, now at the Vancouver International Airport. The plaster pattern [was] donated to the Museum by Maurice and Mary Margaret Young of Vancouver.”
Cheers,
Thanks for that!
I anticipate a movement to rename Prince Edward Island “Abegweit”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abegweit