Elsewhere we have discussed the ways in which the imaginative designs of Kenojuak Ashevak’s earliest graphic works imbue her images with a rhythmic cadence that is reminiscent of the shadow games played inside an igloo or skin tent (Rabbit Eating Seaweed, Lot 87, is the first famous example). It could be argued that it is with Dogs See the Spirits that this airy, ethereal quality reaches a celestial crescendo. Spirit figures — three bird spirits and one Sedna-like sea spirit — burst into life in a blaze of colour against the white sheet. Their swirling, pulsating forms are meticulously inked by Kananginak Pootoogook, who uses radiant red for their bodies and brooding black to tip their extremities. In the lower right corner, the dog howls a silent yelp toward the spectral forms. It is rendered in dense black ink, causing it to appear more “terrestrial” — but even so it seems unburdened by gravity. According to James Houston, “many Inuit, when they see a dog jump up from a sound sleep and bark, believe that the dog has seen something out of the spirit world.” [2] The airiness and dreaminess of the image, in addition to giving the composition a lively sense of drama, endows the scene with a sense of mystical gravitas, an appropriate setting for the appearance of sprightly phantoms.

This is a particularly lovely impression of one of Kenojuak’s greatest masterpieces. As we know, Inuit master printmakers, especially in the early years, experimented with different colours and densities of ink as they worked through an edition. This makes each impression almost unique. Here Kananginak has applied, with extraordinary subtlety, rather more black ink to the extremities of the spirit figures than with others we have seen (see for example First Arts, 28 May 2019, Lot 30). The effect is marvelous. Bravo to Kananginak, and of course brava to Kenojuak, for entrancing us with your artistry.

1. This print is officially titled Dog Sees the Spirits, but a few copies including this one are inscribed as shown. The “error” shades but does not fundamentally change the meaning of the work.

2. James Houston’s caption for this image in J.C.H. King, Birgit Pauksztat, and Robert Storrie eds., Arctic Clothing of North America (Montreal, McGill-Queen’s Press, 2005), p. 140.

References: This famous image has been reproduced in Ernst Roch ed., Arts of the Eskimo: Prints, (Montreal/Toronto: Signum/Oxford, 1974) p. 35; J.C.H. King et.al, eds., Arctic Clothing of North America – Alaska, Canada, Greenland, ([s.l., London, UK?]: The British Museum Press, 2005), p.140. For other examples of silhouetted images by the artist, see Complex of Birds, 1960 #17 and Vision in Autumn, 1960 #21, See First Arts, July 2020, Lots 14 & 25 for our discussion on these works.