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Ray, Carl

Self taught artist Carl Ray was born in 1943 on the Sandy Lake First Nation reserve in northern Ontario, Canada and was known in his Cree community as Tall Straight Poplar (he was 6'4" tall) where he hunted and trapped after leaving residential school at fifteen following the death of his father.

At this traditional way of living he was a failure - in Carl’s own words years later: “a year’s catch consisted of four beaver, one lynx, and an assortment of mice and rabbits”.

 

Despite showing artistic promise at an early age, Carl was reluctant to break the taboo of painting the sacred beliefs and stories of his people. He did not touch a brush or paint for many years after having been admonished by his elders for doing so.

 

http://www.gevik.com/gallery-phillip/woodland-indian-art/ray-carl/

Provenance: Barney and Marion Lamm.

The Lamms operated a wilderness resort in Ontario, Canada (1945-1970) with assistance from the local Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) bands. Following an industrial mercury disaster in 1970, the Lamms became environmental activists on behalf of themselves and the Ojibwe. The Marion Lamm Mercury Library at Harvard holds the family archives on this history and its effect on indigenous peoples.

Marion Lamm maintained personal relationships with many Anishnaabeg artists, buying directly from them when they visited her home. Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, Eddie Cobiness, and others were guests in the Lamms home and Marion was a favored patron. Upon her death, the collection was dispersed among her five children.

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