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Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, C.C., R.C.A. (1927-2013) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Birds from the Sea, 1960 #22
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, C.C., R.C.A. (1927-2013) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Birds from the Sea, 1960 #22

KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, C.C., R.C.A. (1927-2013) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)

Birds from the Sea, 1960 #22
Printmaker: IYOLA KINGWATSIAK (1933-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
stonecut, 19.5 x 23.75 in (49.5 x 60.3 cm), framed
17/50
LOT 57
ESTIMATE: $8,000 — $12,000
PRICE REALIZED: $36,000.00
A world record for the print at auction

Further images

  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 1 ) KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, C.C., R.C.A. (1927-2013) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Birds from the Sea, 1960 #22
  • (View a larger image of thumbnail 2 ) KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, C.C., R.C.A. (1927-2013) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Birds from the Sea, 1960 #22
View on a Wall
This luminous stencil print perfectly marries Kenojuak’s imagery with meticulous inking and stencilling. The amorphous, abstracted birds flow across the page in perfect harmony. Kenojuak remembered the shapes and movement...
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This luminous stencil print perfectly marries Kenojuak’s imagery with meticulous inking and stencilling. The amorphous, abstracted birds flow across the page in perfect harmony. Kenojuak remembered the shapes and movement of the stories elders would tell, using their hands to create constantly changing and whimsical patterns. The same sense of the ethereal is augmented by the variations in the colour of blue skillfully blended by the printer, Iyola Kingwatsiak. The result is the radiant abstracted imagery of Birds from the Sea.


Following the success of her print Rabbit Eating Seaweed in the 1959 inaugural print collection, the 1960 collection (released in 1961) can certainly be considered Kenojuak’s “breakout” year. Birds from the Sea is one of ten lovely prints by Kenojuak released that year; other masterpieces include her most celebrated work, The Enchanted Owl, also featured in this catalogue (Lot 30). Birds from the Sea is arguably the 1960 print that most resembles Rabbit Eating Seaweed, but we can already see the sureness and clarity of Kenojuak’s draughtsmanship in this image. The original graphite drawing was fairly small and was enlarged using graph paper before the stencil was cut.


Although Kenojuak was a gifted sculptor as well (see Lot 39), it was her drawings and prints that captured the interest of generations of admirers. Awarded the Order of Canada as well as several honorary degrees, Kenojuak Ashevak is the subject of two monographs and her works are found in prominent national and international collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Art Gallery of Canada.


References: This image is reproduced in Jean Blodgett, Kenojuak, (Toronto: Firefly Books, 1985), fig. 9. For more information on this famous artist see Jean Blodgett, Kenojuak, (Toronto: Firefly Books / Mintmark Press Ltd., 1985); Anna Hudson, ‎Jocelyn Piirainen, ‎& Georgiana Uhlyarik, Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak, exh. cat., (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2018); Odette Leroux ed., Inuit Women Artists (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Gatineau: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994).
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Provenance

Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto;
Acquired from the above by John and Joyce Price, Seattle.
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