One of Cape Dorset’s patriarchs, Tudlik’s Excited Man Forgets his Weapons conveys the artist’s fertile memories of a traditional way of life that, for men, was largely centered on one’s ability to navigate the resources of the land. While the imagery reflects the Inuit hunter’s life that Tudlik well-knew, it is also delightfully comical. The artist manages to convey the expression of the hunter in a sophisticated yet humorous way. The man, awe-struck by his luck and slack jawed, spots a polar bear and cub and he starts a sprightly tip-toe toward the pair. We, the viewer, “get” the joke when we reference the title: the delighted man has started his chase completely unarmed. Visually, the work is an exercise in restraint where the background of the sheet is unadorned and the palette is limited to a delicate balance of leaden blue and black.

References: This print is reproduced in W.T. Larmour, Inunnit: The Art of the Canadian Eskimo, (Ottawa: The Ministry of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1967),no. 69, p. 84. Christine Lalonde and Leslie Boyd Ryan, Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset 1959-2009, (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009), cat. 7, p. 27.