Bear Attacking Seal Item Number: Na765 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Print depicting a yellow and grey-brown bear with a white head and black eyes standing on its hind legs above a recumbent white seal with black spots. Below image is written, "Bear attacking seal 44/50 Cape Dorset 1973 Pitseolak." The names of the artist and printmaker are stamped in Inuit syllabics along with the Cape Dorset Co-operative seal of a red stylized igloo in the bottom left-hand corner. The Canadian Eskimo Arts Council's blind embossed stamp is in the lower right-hand corner.
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
- Made by Pitseolak Ashoona (Maker) and Lukta Qiatsuk (Technician) in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada and Kinngait, Nunavut, Canada during 1973
- Collected before 1983
- Owned by Guenter Adolphs before December 15, 1983
- Received from Guenter Adolphs (Donor) on December 15, 1983
What
Who
- Culture
- Inuit
- Creator
- Pitseolak Ashoona (Maker) and Lukta Qiatsuk (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 1973
- 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
- 0914/0035