PARR (1893-1969) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Untitled Drawing (Hunter and Dog with Walrus, Polar Bear, and Goose), c. 1965-67

Parr was already in his late sixties when he was approached by Terry Ryan to pursue an art career. This drawing comes from the middle years of Parr’s foray into art making; its relatively loose style shows his evolution as a draughtsman. His memories of a traditional lifestyle that focused mainly on animals and the hunt were clearly still fresh in his mind and inspired his works throughout his brief career. This drawing depicts a lone hunter (and likely his dog) and three different preys: a walrus, polar bear, and goose. Parr’s own life, which began in the late nineteenth century and straddled the transition between the old ways and the new in Canada’s Arctic, is reflected in this autobiographical image of Parr the hunter, armed with a harpoon and rifle. The large size of the rifle indicates its relatively greater importance for the hunter’s success and survival.

References: For an overview of Parr’s stylistic progression: see Marion Jackson, Parr: His Drawings, (Halifax, Mount Saint Vincent University, 1988) and Ingo Hessel, “The Drawings of Parr: A Closer Look,” Inuit Art Quarterly, Fall 1998, Vol. 3, No. 4, p.12-20; For works of a similar age, see: Gerald McMaster ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), p. 166-7. 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. Stylistically and in overall composition, this drawing closely resembles two of Parr’s published prints: Walrus Hunters on Sea Ice from 1967, and Hunters of Old from 1974 (posthumous release). See a felt-tip pen drawing by Parr c. 1966 in Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), pl. 120, p. 149.

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PARR (1893-1969) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)

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