This small group of sculptures by Baker Lake artist Barnabus Arnasungaaq (1924-2017), all sourced from a Montreal private collection, is an interesting cross sampling to show that there is much more to Barnabus than his signature muskoxen.

Enjoy!    

The Kivalliq Region is located on the a portion of the mainland west of Hudson Bay as well as both Coats and Southampton Islands. The region is perhaps better known by us old timers at the Keewatin District, a name derived from a Cree dialect in Northern Ontario. Since the creation of Nunavut in 1999 the name Keewatin has been phased out in favour of Kivalliq. The region has a population of just over 10,000 people and is comprised of several communities including Arviat, Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake), Igluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet), Salliq (Coral Harbour), Naujaat (Repulse Bay), Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), & Tikiraqjuaq (Whale Cove).

The very hard stone found throughout much of the region has necessitated an approach which is far more minimalist than what comes out of either Baffin Island or Nunavik, both of which have stones which are much easier to to carve. Interestingly, the aesthetic which developed as a result of hard stone is mirrored in works produced from softer materials such as caribou antler or walrus ivory.

Some of the most important Inuit artists of the latter part of the 20th Century hailed from the Kivalliq Region. Artists such as John Tiktak, John Pangnark, Luke Iksiktaaryuk, George Tatanniq, Barnabus Arnasuugaaq, Marc Tungilik, Lucy Tasseor, & John Kavik all have works in every major book on Inuit art and their works feature very prominently in most museum displays. It can be easily argued that while artists from other areas of the arctic have enjoyed greater commercial success, artists from the Kivalliq enjoy greater critical respect.

While large examples of works by these artists from key periods in the 1960's and 70's are now selling for very high prices, smaller works are still available at very reasonable prices. This exhibition is a somewhat encyclopedic survey of smaller works by artists from the Kivalliq which can be had a prices which won't break the bank.  

After a year or two of experimentation, Cape Dorset released its' inaugural print collection in the fall of 1959. The collection featured a total of 41 prints produced primarily in either stonecut or stencil.  Since the collection was produced with cautious enthusiasm, edition sizes were limited to 30 impressions each. Fast forward sixty years and Cape Dorset is still producing some of the most exciting works of graphic art in Canada and is the likely the oldest print atelier in continuous operation.

We are very proud to present this wonderful group of 1959 graphics as it presents a rare opportunity to see so many together at the same time. There are a number of passionate collectors who have been trying to amass the entire collection and competition for the 1959 prints at auction is often fierce. Given the small edition sizes and the ravages of time, some of these prints may never re-appear on the market.

It is with great pleasure that we present the 2014 Cape Dorset annual print collection. This year, the collection is comprised of 38 images by 15 different artists. There are several new names with exciting works but, sadly, we also said goodbye to the late  Itee Pootoogook who is represented by two images.

Works from the 2014 collection will be available for purchase as of Friday, October 17th at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. The works will be available for preview as of Wednesday, October 15th.

Fax, phone, and email orders should be sent prior to Friday, October 17th in order to assure priority processing.

Jessie Ooonark (1906-1985)

"Jessie Oonark was born in the area of northern Canada known as the  Barren Lands, north and west of the present-day village of Baker Lake,  Northwest Territories, where she settled in the late 1950s. Her  childhood and young adulthood were spent in the traditional pursuits of  an Inuit woman: dressing caribou and sealskins, and making parkas and  other items of traditional clothing. Oonark began her career as a  graphic artist in 1959, when a Canadian biologist working in Baker Lake  gave her art supplies. Her talent was immediately recognized, and she  was soon making drawings for sale. A selection of Oonark's drawings were  sent from Baker Lake to Cape Dorset, the only Inuit settlement issuing  prints at the time…. She was the only outsider ever included in the Cape  Dorset print program.

Oonark was a major force in the development of the graphic arts  program at Baker Lake in the 1960s and 1970s. Her singular talent was  rewarded by an art advisor at Baker Lake who gave Oonark her own studio  and a small salary to allow her the freedom of full-time artistic  creativity. (She had previously been working as a janitor at the local  church.) Between 1970 and 1985 more than 100 of Oonark's drawings were  translated into prints and issued in the annual Baker Lake print  editions.

A strong, bold graphic sense informs all of Oonark's work.  Traditional dress, women's facial tatoos, and shamanistic themes are  common in her art, yet they usually appear as isolated, fragmentary  forms, shaped into a graphically bold image rather than a comprehensible  narrative. Oonark is also well known as a textile artist, whose wool  and felt wall-hangings reveal her as a master of color and form."

Janet Catherine Berlo in "North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary", 1995