Tattooed Whale is an exceptional print; it is beautiful, but it is also unusual as Tim Pitsiulak doubled as the printmaker. In Kinngait only a few artists are also printmakers. Here, Pitsiulak has not only created this expressive image of a bowhead whale, but he also mastered the technique of silkscreen printing. As part of an artist residency at the renowned Open Studio in Toronto, Pitsiulak learned this difficult process and successfully created this stunning print.

Pitsiulak was both an artist and a hunter. Like Kananginak (see lot 118), his knowledge of the animals and the land around his native southern Baffin Island was encyclopaedic and he was able to bring it to life in his drawings. Portraits of the bowhead whale appeared frequently in his drawings, often adorned with images of his ancestors who hunted these massive creatures with only skin boats and harpoons. The ancient masks and tattooed images, together with the repeating complementary pattern of colours, make this large whale both lyrical and elegant.

References: This image is reproduced in Leslie Boyd, Tim Pitsiulak: Drawings and Prints from Cape Dorset (Portland, OR: Pomegranate, 2018), p. 67. On page 66, Boyd poignantly describes Tim Pitsiulak’s hard work on this print at Open Studio; it would be his last trip south before his death later that year. On page 57 of the same book, see a quite similar coloured pencil drawing by the artist. For other works by the artist see Art Gallery of Ontario, Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario and Goose Lane Editions, 2018).