ALEX JANVIER
— SOLD —
Steps to Take
Lake Shore Life
Best Drum Group
Untitled (Blue Theme)
Untitled (Green Theme)
– ALEX JANVIER –
Denesuline/Saulteaux, 1935-2024
Alex Janvier was a groundbreaking Indigenous artist of Denesuline and Saulteaux descent. He was born in Le Goff Reserve, Cold Lake First Nations, Alberta. As were many Indigenous children of his generation, Janvier was sent to a residential school at a young age. This traumatic experience affected him deeply, although ironically he later credited it as a source of resilience and reflection in his artwork.
Janvier’s works explore themes of identity, colonization, spirituality, and the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land. Aesthetically, his art is characterized by vibrant colors, fluid forms, and intricate line work that typically incorporates organic shapes. His style is a fusion of abstraction and symbolic Indigenous imagery, a reflection of the dual influences that inform his work: Western modernism and Indigenous history.
In the 1970s, Janvier, along with six other Indigenous artists, became part of what was known as the “Indian Group of Seven.” This pioneering collective of First Nations artists sought to raise the profile of Indigenous art, rejecting the "craft" label often assigned to Native artists and asserting their contributions as fine art. The group played a crucial role in elevating Indigenous artists and their works in mainstream Contemporary Art.
Alex Janvier has received numerous awards and honors, including the Order of Canada in 2007, one of the country’s highest civilian honors in recognition of his work as a pioneering Indigenous artist. His paintings have been exhibited widely, both in Canada and internationally. In 2016, the National Gallery of Canada curated Alex Janvier, Modern Indigenous Master, the artist’s major retrospective, that traveled to many major institutions across Canada. Janvier’s work is held in prestigious collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Alberta, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Glenbow Museum, the McMichael Collection and Canadian Museum of History, among others.