An accident had rendered the elder Parr unable to hunt, and when Terry Ryan asked him to try drawing in the spring of 1961, he was happy to oblige. Informed by memories of his younger self as a traditional hunter on the land, Parr’s intention for Man Among Walrus was perhaps to commemorate the results of a particularly successful hunting trip. The powerful shapes of the walruses, arranged almost as a hunting tally might be, are inked almost entirely jet black by printmaker Lukta Qiatsuk, in contrast with the figure of the hunter who is portrayed with the scratchy lines more associated with Parr’s drawing style. Our eye is drawn outward from the hunter as he proudly “presents” the animals to the viewer.

References: For examples of contemporaneous drawings by Parr see Ingo Hessel, “The Drawings of Parr: A Closer Look,” Inuit Art Quarterly, Fall 1998, Vol. 3, No. 4, p. 14-20.; Marion E. Jackson, Parr: His Drawings, (Halifax: Art Gallery, Mount Saint Vincent University, 1988); and Drew Armour, “Parr: A Unique Canadian Artist” in Canadian Antiques & Art Review, (April 1981), pp. 30-35. For information about the artist, see Terry Ryan, “Parr” in The Beaver, Autumn 1979; this article was subsequently reprinted in Alma Houston, ed. Inuit Art: An Anthology, (Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer, 1988) pp. 38-41.