BILL REID
Bill Reid is one of Canada’s greatest artists of the 20th century. Goldsmith-turned-sculptor, carver, writer — he was truly a renaissance man.
In a long career, he embraced many art forms, driven always by a passion to create the “well made object”. This passion, combined with a gradual discovery of his rich Haida cultural heritage, informed and inspired his development as a visual artist of tremendous power and brilliant accomplishment.
Hopkins, Chris
Portrait of Bill Reid (posthumous) 2005
Oil on canvas 34" x 42" (86 cm x 106 cm)
Bill Reid Foundation Collection © Purchased with funds donated by Joseph Kovalik
Born in 1920, a Canadian of a Haida mother and a father of European descent, he was brought up, and lived most of his life, in British Columbia. When he died in March 1998, he left a legacy of magnificent works of art from the most intricate to the monumental — in wood carving, exquisite jewellery, beautiful prints, and massive sculptures.
Bill Reid was the pivotal force in introducing to the world the great art traditions of the indigenous people of the Northwest Coast of North America. His legacies include infusing that tradition with modern ideas and forms of expression, influencing emerging artists, and building lasting bridges between First Nations and other peoples.
More information at CBC:
Raven in the Sun: The Life and Times of Bill Reid
And from the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Civilization.ca
© Copyright 2007 Bill Reid Foundation. Important notices.
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Portrait of Bill Reid, circa 1970. Photographer unknown.
Tools of the great Haida carver, Charles Edenshaw, were passed through the family to his descendant, Bill Reid. Carved ivory and bone, steel, silver, abalone shell inlay.