The 1977 Northwest Coast Indian Artists Guild Series was one of
the first projects and publications on contemporary Northwest Coast
design. Native Art Prints is constantly striving to attain prints from
this series to pass on to our customers. Originally released at the Vancouver Art Gallery
and promoted through a catalogue produced by the federal Canadian
Indian Marketing Services, the guild graphics collection was generated
and organized by the artists themselves.
The series included graphic artists such as Robert Davidson, Joe David, Gerry Marks, and Francis Williams
who are now considered to be amongst the best designers of modern
Northwest Coast Art. Many of the prints included in this collection were
identified as iconic soon after publication. Screen-printing programs
were offered during the early years at the Gitanmaax School of Northwest
Coast art in Hazelton and established an interest among the artists and
the potential for prints in the emerging market. For the first few
years, because of the insignificant values the prints were being sold
for, the artists were producing very large editions. Over time,
galleries replaced tourist shops and graphics began to earn a respected
position in the fine art market - and the artists began to realize that
the only way to make the art collectable was to make smaller editions.
The Guild Series was produced in small editions on archival paper and played with grander scale images. In the words of Robert Davidson: “It was time to take prints from the back bedroom to the living room.” Native Art Prints has the above print - Raven-Finned Killerwhale
by Robert Davidson - available for sale. A second series of prints was
released in 1978 which did very well, and a third was released in 1979.
These three publication projects established printmaking as a standard
mode of production for First Nations artists on the West Coast.
