Daphne Odjig, whose art blended Ojibwa with Picasso and Van Gogh, dies at 97
KELOWNA, B.C. — An elder of Canadian aboriginal artists whose work appeared in galleries around the world has died.
Daphne Odjig was born in northern Ontario and had been living in Kelowna, B.C., where she passed away Saturday at the age of 97, her son, Stan Somerville, confirms.
Odjig, whose work blended the influences of Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh with the shapes of Ojibwa pictographs, played a prominent role in leading First Nations painters into the mainstream of Canadian art.
She and her late husband opened the first Canadian gallery dedicated to First Nations art, which became a magnet for what came to be called ”the Indian Group of Seven.”