Haida Art

For centuries the Haida lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands, a remote archipelago off the Northwest Coast of North America. Art, myth and ceremony were an integral part of their lives, and over time they developed a rich, distinctive and powerful style of sculpture and painting. By the time the first Europeans landed on the shores of their homeland, Haida art had attained a refined and noble sophistication of style to display complex myths of creation and transformation. This superb volume, the definitive book on Haida art, presents the most treasured works in what is considered the world's best collection, at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. It is richly illustrated with 90 full-color photos of artworks (such as masks, pipes, rattles and other ceremonial objects), and 95 black-and-white photographs of artworks and rare historical images that provide glimpses into the past. The descriptive text by George MacDonald, author of the classic Haida Monumental Art, provides an informed overview of Haida art in a historical, cultural and cosmological context.