Rita Letendre. Tabori, 1976. Acrylic on canvas, 86.5 x 122 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Marie A. Dunseith, 1983. © Art Gallery of Ontario. 83/289
Located on Level 1, Fudger Rotunda, Gallery #126
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This exhibition brings together two of the 20th century’s greatest painters—Rita Letendre (1928–2021) and Norval Morrisseau (1932–2007). Demonstrating the expressive potential of bold colour and line, these two artists pushed the boundaries of painting.
During a career that spanned over sixty-five years, Letendre used brush, airbrush, palette knife, and her hands to make her work. Vibrating with physical and emotional energy, her paintings, —five of which are on view here, —embody her ongoing quest for connection and understanding.
Morrisseau’s six-panel masterpiece, Man Changing into Thunderbird (1977), illustrates the theme of transformation, an idea central to Anishinaabe philosophy. This painting records the artist’s personal evolution into Miskwaabik Animiiki, or “Copper Thunderbird”, a name he received in a healing ceremony. The name carries connotations of protection, healing, mystery, and power, and Morrisseau used it as his signature. Merging personal narrative with intense colour and elaborate design, Morrisseau called this work, “the ultimate picture for me,” - it is featured here alongside two other works by him from the 1970s.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Born in Drummondville, Quebec, to Abenaki and Quebecois parents, Rita Letendre began painting in 1940s Montreal. Renowned for her vibrant and visceral style, Letendre engaged with colour, light, and space to express the full energy of life and harness in her powerful gestures an intense spiritual force.
Norval Morrisseau was born on the Sand Point First Nations Reserve near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Leader of the Woodland School of Art, he is known for his bold style that pushes the boundaries of visual storytelling, and fuses traditional stories, political messages, and spiritual themes in his work.
