Fishing Item Number: Na913 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Frontal image of a woman in a decorated parka and skirt, holding a harpoon and standing over a fishing hole. Bird on left. Figure in kayak with harpoon in right background. Name of artist in Inuit syllabics at side on left, name of printmaker in Inuit syllabics and Cape Dorset stylized red igloo seal at side on right. Pencil inscription below image from side on left: "Fishing lithograph 9/50 Dorset 1976." Canadian Eskimo Arts Council's and Cape Dorset's blind embossed stamps in lower corner on left.

History Of Use

Contemporary Inuit prints were first produced at Cape Dorset in 1957. Although precursors to printmaking can be seen in women's skin applique work and in men's incising of ivory, stone and bone, the impetus for printmaking was as a commercial venture. This venture was established jointly by Inuit artists and John Houston, the civil administrator for Cape Dorset. Other Inuit communities quickly followed the commercial success of Cape Dorset's West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative. Printmaking developed as a communal activity following a Japanese, rather than a Western, model of serigraph production. Each year the cooperatives produce a series of limited edition prints which are sold in the retail art market. In 1965, the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council was established from the Canadian Eskimo Art Committee to ensure high standards were maintained. Printmaking, along with stone carving, provide cash income for communities which have undergone rapid and significant change, during the late 20th century, from traditional hunting based societies to settled communities dependent on consumer goods. The prevalent images depicted in Inuit art are of traditional life, arctic animals and mythology. Recently, contemporary subjects have been depicted by a minority of artists.

Cultural Context

contemporary art

Item History

What

Name
Fishing
Identification Number
Na913
Type of Item
print
Manufacturing Technique
lithographed and printed
Overall
height 20.5 in, width 25.8 in

Who

Culture
Inuit
Creator
Pudlo Pudlat (Maker) and Ningeoseak Pudlat (Technician)
Previous Owner
Guenter Adolphs
Received from
Guenter Adolphs (Donor)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada and Kinngait, Nunavut, Canada

When

Creation Date
during 1976
Collection Date
before 1983
Ownership Date
before December 15, 1983
Acquisition Date
on December 15, 1983

Other

Item Classes
works on paper
Condition
good
Accession Number
0914/0183