Robert Davidson RCA – Curator’s Choice Fall 2019

Multiple award-winning artist Robert Davidson, now starring in the film doc ‘Haida Modern‘ at the VIFF (Vancouver International Film Festival) as of October 1st, is one of Canada’s most esteemed and respected contemporary First Nations artists.

Born in Massett on the Haida Gwaii Islands in 1946, he moved to Vancouver in 1965 and soon met Bill Reid in 1966 when he began an 18-month apprenticeship that launched his career.

Both his grandfather Robert Sr., and father Claude, were respected carvers, and they are descendants of famed Charles Edenshaw.

For over 50 years, he has steadily produced exceptional and culturally relevant works in both traditional and non-traditional media.  He has become the consummate Haida artist whose strong rhythms and personal style is now recognized and sought-after by international collectors.

His 2004 solo exhibition ‘The Abstract Edge” opened at the MOA (Museum of Anthropology) in Vancouver and then toured nationally.

While his works are publicly displayed at Museums and Galleries worldwide, he continues to receive recognition from institutions, such as the RCA (Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Award) in 2011, including other prestigious awards as the Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia.  Most recently he was awarded the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts.

Although he is considered a giant in the Canadian art world, he is soft-spoken with a charming humility that impresses you immediately upon meeting him.

Coastal Peoples has exhibited his art in our own exhibitions; such as Haida Masterworks III (2017); and Haida Masterworks II (2013).

For more details on the artworks from our collection shown below, please click here.

Photo Credit: Robert Davidson – courtesy of BC Achievement Foundation (receiving the National Aboriginal Achievement Award 1995).