Joe Norris

Joe Norris (b. Halifax, NS, 1924-1996) is described as "the Dean of Nova Scotia folk painters" and "the Matisse of folk art". Norris spent most of his life in the small hamlet of Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia. After working in the fishing and construction trades, Norris started painting when a severe heart attack forced him into early retirement in 1972. This is when he went back to painting, having painted a great deal in his youth. His work is found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and in many corporate and private art collections throughout North America. A hardcover book, Joe Norris - Painted Visions of Nova Scotia, was published in 2000, in conjunction with a retrospective of his work which toured Canada between November, 2000 and March, 2003.