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Artworks
JOSEPHIE POOTOOGOOK (1887-1958) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
With the Raven Comes the Fish, 1959 #26Printmaker: KANANGINAK POOTOOGOOK, R.C.A. (1935-2010) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
stonecut, 17.75 x 12 in (45.1 x 30.5 cm), irregular
15/50
LOT 14
ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500
PRICE REALIZED: $2,440.00This evocative scene employs a minimalist approach with the print predominantly in solid black, while white highlights on the clothing and kakivak (spear) add a subtle gleam, enhancing depth and...This evocative scene employs a minimalist approach with the print predominantly in solid black, while white highlights on the clothing and kakivak (spear) add a subtle gleam, enhancing depth and contrast. Mirroring the hunter's starkness, a fish below the waterline, its belly similarly illuminated, seems to be drawn towards the hunter's lure, oblivious to the man’s leister that is poised to plunge. Above the tense fishing tableau, a raven is rendered in a simple silhouette, its eye a solitary detail in negative space.
While it is not made clear in any known literature, With the Raven Comes the Fish might well imply that a bird’s circling presence heralds a hidden shoal beneath the water’s surface. Pootoogook matured living a traditional Arctic lifestyle, where fishing was vital to sustained existence, making it crucial to discern such signs in the natural environment. It is little wonder, then, that he chose to depict this scene to underscore the deep interdependence between nature and survival.
References: This print is reproduced in Christine Lalonde and Leslie Boyd Ryan, Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset 1959-2009, (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009), cat. 36, p. 36.
Josephie Pootoogook was one of the elders that James Houston asked to “come on board” with the printmaking program in the late 1950s, to ensure its success. Pootooogook obliged and became one of the stars of the 1959 inaugural collection. He contributed seven prints including the iconic Joyfully I See Ten Caribou,. Sadly, Pootoogook died in 1958 but his legacy lived on through his talented artist sons Kananginak, Eegyvudluk, and Paulassie.
Provenance
Collection of John & Joyce Price, Seattle
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