Artist

Wescoupe, Clemence

Title

Thunderbird

Technique

serigraph

Dimensions

31.0cm height x 76.0cm width

Type

print

Accession Number

EC2022.2.1

Owner

City of Burnaby

Collection

Education Collection

Gift of David Nunn

Clemence Wescoupe was a prominent Canadian painter and printmaker. He was born at the Long Plain Reserve in Manitoba in 1951 of Saulteaux background. His native name was “Ozaa-Bines”, which means “Brown Thunderbird”. Wescoupe was largely self-taught and began to paint in 1971. He started printmaking after he was inspired by his friends, a group of artists in the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation, better known as the "Indian Group of Seven". Wescoupe used oils, acrylics, watercolours, gouache to create his work, and belongs to the Woodland School of Art. In the mid-70s, Wescoupe’s first silkscreen prints were published by Robert Checkwitch of Great Grasslands Graphics. “Rainbirds”, made in 1977, was one of the most popular and successful Woodland prints ever created. Wescoupe died at 67 at the Portage la Prairie General Hospital. His works have been exhibited across Canada and Europe, and are part of several public and private collections, including The Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.