Tir Neb

Bill Reid (1920-1998) was surely one of Canada’s and North America’s finest artists, inspired both by his Northwest Coast (Haida) native heritage and by European traditions, and working in a range of forms and materials, from intricate gold and silver jewellery to massive carved wooden canoes and totem poles.

Reid’s work combines the striking visual aesthetic of traditional Northwest Coast art with his own innovative vision and interpretation of these traditions and those of European art.  He was also a significant influence on the emergence of a new generation of native artists and on the preservation and continuing development of Northwest traditions and crafts.

Many of his works can be found in museums and galleries, including the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC in Vancouver, and there is now a permanent exhibition of his work at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in Vancouver.

Doris Shadbolt’s excellent book “Bill Reid” describes his life and career as an artist, illustrated with many examples of his striking and beautiful works.

The image above shows a detail from the carving “Raven and The First Men” at MOA, one of several variations on this theme created by Reid in a variety of materials over the years.  The carving illustrates the Haida story of how Raven brought the First Men into the world by opening the clam in which they were trapped. 

The book “The Raven Steals The Light” includes versions of this and other traditional Haida stories, re-told and illustrated by Reid himself.

“Art can never be understood, but can be seen as a kind of magic, the most profound and mysterious of all human activities.”  Bill Reid