Bill Reid: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox artist |
{{Infobox artist |
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|Bill Reid was a Hooker |
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| bgcolour = #6495ED |
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| name = Bill Reid |
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| image = Haida bear figure (UBC-2010).jpg |
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| alt = A sculpture titled ''Bear'' on display at the UBC Museum of Anthropology |
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| caption = ''Bear'', [[Museum of Anthropology at UBC|UBC Museum of Anthropology]] |
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| birth_name = William Ronald Reid |
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|01|12|df=yes}} |
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| birth_place = [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]] |
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|3|13|1920|01|12|df=yes}} |
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| death_place = [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]] |
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| nationality = {{flag|Canada}} |
| nationality = {{flag|Canada}} |
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| field = [[Jewelry]], [[sculpture]], [[painting]], [[screen-printing]] |
| field = [[Jewelry]], [[sculpture]], [[painting]], [[screen-printing]] |
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Revision as of 15:35, 4 March 2011
Bill Reid | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Known for | Jewelry, sculpture, painting, screen-printing |
| Notable work | The Spirit of Haida Gwaii Chief of the Undersea World |
| Movement | Indigenous art |
| Elected | Order of British Columbia |
William (Bill) Ronald Reid, OBC (12 January 1920 – 13 March 1998) was a Canadian artist whose works included jewelry, sculpture, screen-printing, and painting.[1] His work is notable for being featured on the Canadian $20 banknote.
Biography
Reid was born in Victoria, British Columbia to an American father of Scottish-German descent[2] and a mother from the Haida, one of the First Nations of the Pacific coast. He developed a keen interest in Haida art while working as a radio announcer in Toronto, where he also studied jewelry making, having first learnt about his heritage from his maternal grandfather, who had himself been trained by Charles Edenshaw, a Haida artist of great renown.[3]
In 1951, he returned to Vancouver and became greatly interested in the works of Edenshaw, working to understand the symbolism of his work, much of which had been lost along with the many Haida traditions. During this time he also worked on salvaging artifacts, including many intricately carved totem poles which were then moldering in abandoned village sites, and aided in the partial reconstruction of a village in the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology.
Working in the traditional forms and modern media (usually gold, silver and argillite), he began by making jewelry before branching into larger sculptures in bronze, red cedar and Nootka Cypress (yellow cedar) usually portraying figures, animals, and scenes from folklore, as well as assisting in the preservation of the accompanying mythology.
His most popular works are three large bronze sculptures, two depicting a canoe filled with human and animal figures: one black, The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, at the Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C., in the United States; and one green, The Jade Canoe, at Vancouver International Airport, in British Columbia; and the third, Chief of the Undersea World, depicting a breaching orca, at the Vancouver Aquarium. Plaster casts of these sculptures exist at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, Canada.
He participated in the blockades of logging roads which helped save the rain forests of Gwaii Haanas (South Moresby); he also stopped work on the sculpture in Washington during this period to protest the destruction of the forests of Haida Gwaii.
Reid received many honours in his life, including honorary degrees from the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, the University of Victoria, the University of Western Ontario, York University, and Trent University. He received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1994, and was made a member of the Order of British Columbia and an Officer of France's Order of Arts and Letters.[4]
Having dedicated the later part of his life to the creation of new works and these tasks of curation, Reid died on 13 March 1998, of Parkinson's disease, in Vancouver. In July 1998 friends and relatives paddled Lootaas, a large cedar canoe carved by Reid for Expo 86, on a two-day journey along the Pacific coast to bring his ashes to Tanu Island in Haida Gwaii, the site of his mother's village.
Two of his sculptures, Raven and the First Men and The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, are prominently featured on the $20 note in the Bank of Canada's new Canadian Journey (2004) issue paired with a quotation from author Gabrielle Roy.[5]
Gallery
-
Chief of the Undersea World, Vancouver Aquarium -
Raven and The First Men, UBC Museum of Anthropology. It depicts part of a Haida creation myth. The Raven represents the Trickster figure common to many mythologies. -
Bear Mother, Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Ontario -
The Spirit of Haida Gwaii (The Black Canoe), Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C., USA
See also
References
- ^ Reid, William Ronald, The Canadian Encyclopedia
- ^ Bill Reid, Can. Museum of Civilization
- ^ "The Life and Legend of Bill Reid". Arts and Entertainment, Sculpture. CBC Archives. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
- ^ Canada Gazette Part I, Vol. 132, No. 26
- ^ $20- 2001-2004 Series, Canadian Journey- Bank note series, 1935 to present- Bank Notes- Bank of Canada
External links
