Laliberté Life! An Exhibit Honoring the Art of Norman Laliberté
Exhibition Dates - (Free and Open to the Public)
August 5 - November 19, 2023
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays
1:00 - 4:00 pm
The Nahant Historical Society, 41 Valley Road, Nahant, MA
Norman Laliberté's paintings, totems, and banners have been exhibited at more than 300 one-man shows. His sculptures and banners are part of major corporations and public art installations throughout the US and Canada. Norman Laliberté was awarded a major commission from the Vatican to design 88 banners for their Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, which brought him fame and millions of views of the tapestries.
“Critics sometimes used the word whimsical to describe his work, which in many instances was so cheerful it seemed to smile and wink at viewers and passers-by.”
Plentitude is the overarching theme in Norman’s art. His paintings, banners, and totems are covered with a multitude of shapes and colors of birds and animals, fruits and flowers, men and women. As a young man he was influenced by mythology and the natural world and began to incorporate birds into his art as well as Mayan animal folklore: snakes, leopards, rabbits as tricksters, and swans as symbols of purity.
Norman personified “joie de vivre,” which was the title of the last exhibition in his lifetime at the Marblehead Arts Association. We think of him as alive in spirit and have titled this exhibition in loving memory to reflect that feeling.