Muskox is a brilliant demonstration of Osuitok’s early and ground-breaking experimentation. With this print the artist-printmaker explores the structure of the animal by masterfully including un-inked areas to define one horn and eye, its muzzle, and even the shaggy texture of the animal's fur. The ground on which the muskox stands reveals the end grain of the block of wood used to print it, creating an interesting gently sloping effect that draws our eyes towards the powerful figure of the muskox. The densely inked black form of the animal swells against a dazzling orange-gold stippled sky, bestowing a majestic aura to the animal.

Osuitok was the first Inuit artist approached by James Houston with his idea of initiating a printmaking program in Cape Dorset. This penetrating portrait of a muskox is one of five prints that the artist contributed to the 1957/58 experimental collection; Kananginak’s Walrus on Ice (Lot 5) was another work in that series. Despite the importance of Osuitok’s contributions to the first printmaking experiments in Kinngait, after the 1959 inaugural print collection none featured him as an artist. He decided to devote himself to sculpture.

References: For information on the experimental years of printmaking in Dorset, see: Norman Vorano, Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration, (Gatineau: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2011), p. 6ff. For the author’s account of Houston and Osuitok’s meeting and See also Jean Blodgett, In Cape Dorset We Do it This Way, (Kleinberg, ON: McMichael Canadian Art Foundation, 1991), pp 13-14 and 23. In Jean Blodgett, “Osuitok Ipeelee” in Alma Houston ed., Inuit Art: An Anthology, (Winnipeg: Watson and Dwyer Publishing, 1988), pp. 42-44, the author quotes Osuitok on his reason for not submitting drawings after the 1959 collection of prints.

*According to Sandra Barz, Osuitok indicated that he is the printer
**Print says stonecut only.