Pat Mcguire (Haida/Canadian, 1943-1970)
Bear Pole and Carving in a Landscape
graphite on paper, signed and dated in watercolour lower right "Skidegate McGuire 68"
Size in inches: 11.25 h x 9 w (with frame: 14 3/4 h x 11 7/8 w)
J20509
Patrick Samuel McGuire of the Staastas Eagle Clan was born and raised in Skidegate, Haida Gwaii on June 5, 1943. His parents, Nora Tulip (Haida), and Samuel McGuire (Ojobwa-Irish), had five children of which Patrick was the eldest. An introvert, he was mainly self taught, reading the books of Marius Barbeau and looking at old family photographs. He was instructed about Haida art and culture by his uncle Joe Tulip, and enjoyed studying the Edenshaw bracelets of his aunts. A descendant of the Haida artist Charles Gladstone, Pat was attracted to argillite and began carving, drawing and painting at an early age. He developed a clean and distinctive carving style with sweeping lines. As his father was not Haida his mother lost her First Nation’s status when she married, which impacted Patrick’s right to access argillite, and he therefore had to obtain special permission to mine the precious stone. Although he is best known for his work in argillite, he was also a talented jeweller and painter, one of the few early Northwest Coast artists to produce paintings on a regular basis.
Pat moved to Vancouver at the age of nineteen and established an unofficial school of carving, teaching and influencing artists including Pat Dixon, Denny Dixon, Ron Russ, Alfred Collins and Doug Wilson. During his time in Vancouver, Pat slipped into an addiction and although he was still able to work the addiction eventually took his life. He died in December of 1970 of an overdose, at the age of 27. Despite his short career, he left behind a tremendous amount of work and is still highly regarded for his intricately detailed artwork.
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