750 Limited Edition Hard Cover Copies Printed
240 pages
190 Color images
Each book is signed by the Author.
This book is a 40 year project for Mr. Stevens. It's about sex, drugs, alcoholism, addiction, betrayal, lies and deciet.
"James R. Steven's account of the great artist's life is vivid and detailed, full of incidents both tragic and triumphant. The book is engaging visually and richly illustrated. The story lives up to Norval's imagery" Mark Nisenholt
Comment to Jim Stevens on the book.
Jim: I just finished reading your book on the life of Norval. I found it to be a good story about the man and artistic life force that I knew. To say that Norval was a complex fellow is to describe the Pope as being religious – and you have captured a lot of that complexity well in your book. It is good that you covered the voracious sexual appetite aspect, most of the people that write and comment about Norval want to airbrush that side of the story.
When I visit the various Web sites that have arisen about Norval, I can't help but wonder what agendas are being worked through. Some are obviously commercial; but others are mystifying in their strong need to claim to speak for the man and his mission. Clearly, many of the people that write on these sites feel that their special insights into the genius of the man were somehow transferred either by purchasing a painting or through a fleeting meeting. Such has been the power of the man to enthrall many.
There is no doubt that Norval would have thoroughly enjoyed all this controversy, feeling that he had amply demonstrated his role in the world of Trickster. He had a great talent for friendship and seduction and a natural bent for telling a story; this was his technique for gathering enablers of all kinds. I can see how many of his "agents" felt they were exclusive in their dealings with Norval, he signed so many agreements with so many individuals to be his representative; and then cheerfully ignored whatever he had signed. Because he did not have a telephone, and I had a government line to Toronto that in those days was organised so as not to accrue long distance charges, I fielded many a call from galleries and agents of all kinds seeking artwork. Most of them told me that they had exclusive relationships with Norval.
When he was in Red Lake, he would come into my office each day and we would take tea and talk for an hour or so. I see his relationship with Harriet described as having been terminated in quite a few things that have been written about him. I have to say that Norval and Harriet had a passion for each other that may well have become toxic; but always seemed to end up with the pair of them in bed, drunk or sober right up until I left Red Lake in 1979, whenever he would breeze into town. They were Red Lake's answer to Richard Burton and Liz Taylor. Henry and Josh would describe this to me as the inevitable way life would be between Harriet and Norval; and Goyce would have a much more moralistic take on the situation - as an addiction like alcohol itself that should be confronted and addressed. In many a conversation with Norval he explored the complexity of Indian marriage – and that there was no such thing as a divorce in their culture. People were destined to be together and were soul mates. All the other extraneous sexual partners and crazy behaviour could never break that bond. The children knew that this was a powerful source and this was probably why they insisted that he be buried next to his wife in Keewaywin. That, I think, would have suited them both as a final resting place.
Regards,
John Vincett
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A Picasso in the North Country
