Robert Davidson

Robert Davidson is one of Canada's most important contemporary artists. He has been immensely influential in the direction that modern Northwest Coast art has developed over the last six decades. He is a master in every medium, including wood, gold, silver, argillite, silkscreen and bronze.

Davidson belongs to the Eagle clan and his Haida name is Guud San Glans, Eagle of the Dawn. Born in Hydaburg, Alaska, in 1946, he grew up in Old Massett, Haida Gwaii. At the early age of 13, he received training as an argillite and wood carver from his father, Claude Davidson, and grandfather, Robert Davidson Sr. Davidson’s great grandfather, Charles Edenshaw, was a renowned turn-of-the-century Haida artist. Much of Davidson’s cultural knowledge of Haida traditions was passed down to him by his paternal grandmother Florence Davidson, who had been raised in the old Haida ways.

In the late 1960s, Davidson apprenticed with Bill Reid and studied at the Vancouver School of Art. In 1969 he carved and raised a 40-foot totem pole in Old Massett which was the first to be raised in the village since 1871.

In 1995 he received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for his contribution to First Nations art and culture. He has received the Order of British Columbia, and in 1996 was awarded the prestigious Order of Canada. He received both the Governor General’s Award for Visual Arts and the Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement Award in the Visual Arts in 2010. In 2019 Robert was the subject of the documentary Haida Modern. Robert is currently carving a 22 foot totem pole with the Douglas Reynolds Gallery.

23 items

Bird in the Air
Robert Davidson (Haida)

2016 Edition /72 Available framed for $3,100 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The origi...

2016 Edition /72 Available framed for $3,100 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The original to the print, Bird in the Air, is an acrylic painting on canvas that was part of Davidson's 2013 show, Abstract Impulse, which showed at the Seattle Art Museum and then traveled to the Smithsonian in New York City. Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have v...

$2,100.00

Bird in the Air
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition /5 Base Dimensions: 2 ½" H x 85 ½" L x 23" D Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest...

Edition /5 Base Dimensions: 2 ½" H x 85 ½" L x 23" D Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have varying meanings depending on the context and association with a nation, clan, or family. The figures depicted in contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous artwork also have varying meanings but there are some common characteristics from a range of sources, includin...

$135,000.00

Eagle Nai
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Width of Pole: 34" WBase: 4" H x 46" L x 26" WEagle Nai is symbolic of the House of the Eagle. Ea...

Width of Pole: 34" WBase: 4" H x 46" L x 26" WEagle Nai is symbolic of the House of the Eagle. Eagle's face is shown at the bottom of the pole, the hole represents the doorway with human faces on top. The design on the back of the totem pole is delightful as well but viewing the piece from one side doesn't take anything away from its appeal.This totem was exhibited in the exhibition "Robert Davidson Progression of Form" at the Gordon Smith Gallery in Vancouver in 2015. Since then it has remai...

Fisherman's Delight
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition /81 Available framed for $2,350 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly.   "Based on a 2...

Edition /81 Available framed for $2,350 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly.   "Based on a 2019 acrylic-on-canvas work of the same title. At that time, Davidson explained the work's inspiration: 'I went fishing with Reg and his friend Tom Wylie last summer. I was really taken because they were charged with excitement. They kept handing me a rod but I was just happy to watch because they were really interesting... When we went to the river to fish we were excited to know that we had reple...

$1,800.00

Five Views, Butterfly
Robert Davidson (Haida)

1981Edition /225This print is only available framed. Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest ...

1981Edition /225This print is only available framed. Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have varying meanings depending on the context and association with a nation, clan, or family. The figures depicted in contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous artwork also have varying meanings but there are some common characteristics from a range of sources, including...

$1,800.00

Frog Pendant
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition 4/5 16" Chain This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the gal...

Edition 4/5 16" Chain This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the gallery directly. Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have varying meanings depending on the context and association with a nation, clan, or family. The figures depicted in contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous artwork also have varying meanings but there are so...

hlGed sda sGwaansang (Two Working Together)
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition /49 Available framed for $3,100 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly.   hlGed sda sGw...

Edition /49 Available framed for $3,100 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly.   hlGed sda sGwaansang means "closely related" or "two working together" and references a bow and arrow.

$2,500.00

Killer Whale and Raven Totem
Robert Davidson (Haida)

c. late 1960sThis is a beautiful argillite pole carved by Robert Davidson and signed "Robert Davi...

c. late 1960sThis is a beautiful argillite pole carved by Robert Davidson and signed "Robert Davidson Jr." indicating this was completed before the death of his grandfather, Robert Davidson Sr, in 1969. This argillite pole has been meticulously detailed, and then the entire surface was polished with wettened emery cloth leaving it with a jet-black sheen.

$8,500.00

Kugann jaad Giidii - Child of Mouse Woman
Robert Davidson (Haida)

2016 Edition /71 Available framed for $2,300 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The origi...

2016 Edition /71 Available framed for $2,300 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The original to the print "kugann jaad giidii" - Child of Mouse Woman, was an acrylic painting on canvas that was featured in Robert's exhibition, Abstract Edge, which opened at the Museum of Anthropology in 2004 and toured across Canada to various locations. Mouse Woman is known throughout the Northwest Coast under different names, and is sometimes represented in the art of Bill Reid and Robert Davidson i...

$1,500.00

Negative Eye Positive Eye No. 1
Robert Davidson (Haida)

2011This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the gallery directly.This...

2011This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the gallery directly.This painting, and its pair, Negative Eye Positive Eye No. 2, are recent works from Haida artist Robert Davidson and both were included in his solo show "Robert Davidson: Progression of Form" which took place in the summer of 2015 at the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art. The show focused on Davidson's most recent pieces, featuring his more abstract work. From the Exhibition catalogue, Davidson sta...

$55,000.00

Noisy Fin
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition 4/7 Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and an...

Edition 4/7 Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have varying meanings depending on the context and association with a nation, clan, or family. The figures depicted in contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous artwork also have varying meanings but there are some common characteristics from a range of sources, including oral histories and artist descriptions...

$28,000.00

Raven Necklace
Robert Davidson (Haida)

2005 Chain: 21 ¾" L This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the galle...

2005 Chain: 21 ¾" L This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the gallery directly. Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have varying meanings depending on the context and association with a nation, clan, or family. The figures depicted in contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous artwork also have varying meanings but there are some...

Raven with Two Humans Bracelet
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are...

Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have varying meanings depending on the context and association with a nation, clan, or family. The figures depicted in contemporary Northwest Coast Indigenous artwork also have varying meanings but there are some common characteristics from a range of sources, including oral histories and artist descriptions.Raven is one ...

$40,000.00

Salmon Trout Head II
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition /5 The Salmon trout head is a figure used in Northwest Coast First Nations art in the jo...

Edition /5 The Salmon trout head is a figure used in Northwest Coast First Nations art in the joints of a design or as the frame for an eye. The granite base is 29" wide.   Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through families and have varying meanings depending on the context and association with a nation, clan, or family. The figures depicted in contemporary Northwest Coast I...

$135,000.00

Sea Monster
Robert Davidson (Haida)

1976Edition /238This print is only available framed.

1976Edition /238This print is only available framed.

$1,400.00

sk'ug sdang (Two Dog Salmon)
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition /97 Available framed for $2,000 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. "Two Dog Salmon...

Edition /97 Available framed for $2,000 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. "Two Dog Salmon is a reminder that the Salmon mysteriously returns each year to lay its eggs. We continually trust the process and that it will continue. We must support and nurture the environment to ensure that we have a future." - Robert Davidson Indigenous artwork on the Pacific Northwest Coast often incorporates figures and animals that are related to crest symbols. Crests have been passed down through fami...

$1,500.00

Southeast Wind, Killer Whale Pole
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Southeast Wind is a Killer Whale with Human and Wiid, a supernatural Haida bird. The two holes re...

Southeast Wind is a Killer Whale with Human and Wiid, a supernatural Haida bird. The two holes represent the eyes of the Killer Whale. Around Wiid's head at the base of the pole is the mouth of Killer Whale and the tail is at the top, surrounding Human. This totem pole was part of an exhibition "Abstract Impulse" that opened in 2013 at the Seattle Art Museum and closed (2014) at the Smithsonian in New York City. This totem was exhibited again in the exhibition "Robert Davidson Progression of ...

Supernatural Beings
Robert Davidson (Haida)

2019Edition /79Available framed for $2,250 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly."Supernatural...

2019Edition /79Available framed for $2,250 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly."Supernatural Beings is one of two designs that I did based on a discussion with artist/weaver Cheryl Samuel about pushing the design possibilities for robes and aprons. I received feedback from the weavers that it could not be done but also interest from some who were willing to try." - Robert Davidson

$1,800.00

Swallow
Robert Davidson (Haida)

Edition 1/7Also available in Red. Please contact the gallery directly.

Edition 1/7Also available in Red. Please contact the gallery directly.

$25,000.00

The Gift
Robert Davidson (Haida)

1998Edition /125Available framed for $1,600 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The Gift se...

1998Edition /125Available framed for $1,600 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The Gift serigraph was released in honour of, and to assist in raising funds for, a 1998 White Rock commission that was completed with Salish artist, Susan Point. The White Rock detachment of the RCMP approached Davidson about a possible totem pole commission to commemorate their 125th anniversary, as well as to recognize the strained history between the First Nations and the RCMP. Davidson suggested Salish ...

$1,200.00

Wiid
Robert Davidson (Haida)

2013This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the gallery directly.The ...

2013This piece is stored off-site. To arrange a viewing, please contact the gallery directly.The Wiid is a bird that only appears when the salmonberries are ripening on Haida Gwaii. The bird is here reduced to the small head at the upper portion of the composition. The flower of the salmonberry might be alluded to in the white cross-shape against the blue. Formally, the work is a precise balance of a series of tensions and releases. The pressure seen in the compressed white tri-neg defined by...

$100,000.00

Wintertime
Robert Davidson (Haida)

2015 Edition /75 Available framed for $2,000 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The origin...

2015 Edition /75 Available framed for $2,000 CAD. Please contact the gallery directly. The original painting to this print edition appears in “Robert Davidson: Abstract Impulse” which is the accompanying book to the exhibition that took place at both the Seattle Art Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian, in 2014. The painting is described on page 80: "Haida life has for generations been dominated by the seasonal rounds of available foods, most of which are preserved in spring,...

$1,500.00