Sheouak passed away in 1961 with only ten of her images selected for inclusion in the 1960 and 1961 print collections. With such a small oeuvre, prints by the artist appear infrequently on the market. White Whales Startled by Bear ranks amongst the finest of the prints designed by the artist in her too-short career.

Sheouak’s lovely aquatic composition, which was probably drawn in graphite pencil, is coloured with an intense, deep blue by Eegyvudluk Pootoogook, in what is possibly the reverse of the artist’s original. The stencilling uses the flat planes of the bare sheet to describe the animals in a stretch of open water surrounded by sea ice. The blue and white shapes of the image oscillate between foreground and background to create a sense of dynamism and give a tension to the scene. In a charming touch, the image of the cub on its mother’s back tempers the ferocity of the adult bear. This beautiful image brings to mind the famous 1959 print Polar Bear and Cub in Ice designed by Niviaqsi and printed by Iyola Kingwatsiak (see Lot 135).