Warmth Signed and dated 1978
Acrylic on canvas | 61.0 x 91.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 407707
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Norman Knott, known as White Bear, was an Ojibwe artist and is recognised as one of the most prolific Ojibwe artists of Canada. He was born at the Curve Lake Reserve, a small, quiet community in Ontario where he spent his entire life with his wife and children until his death aged 53. Ojibwe are a North American Indigenous community, part of the Anishinaabe people, associated with parts of what is now southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States and Northern Plains. Their name for themselves means “original people” and they were first recorded in the late 17th century.
A visual artist, Knott’s work reflected his love of the natural world, featuring symbolic motifs and spiritual representations of nature. He mostly worked in acrylic paint, including in this piece, but occasionally also oils and watercolour. This work is a stylised painting of two Canadian geese, wings outstretched with four young geese, centre, looking up at a grey female head with headdress of feathers. The corners feature sun/star symbols (the symbol of the soul). Canadian geese were a common motif in Knott’s work.
Provenance
Presented to Queen Elizabeth II by the artist Norman Knott in Ontario, during the Commonwealth Visit of Canada, 1984
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Medium and techniques
Acrylic on canvas
Measurements
61.0 x 91.5 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
68.4 x 98.9 x 4.2 cm (frame, external)