Self-portraits abound in the work of Kinngait-based artist, Jutai Toonoo. He was acutely aware of his own emotions and often sought to capture them in his drawings. Here Jutai depicts himself as a worried man, with seemingly unfocused eyes gazing upwards. He has used dark tones for the portrait and sets it against a somber background on which criss-crossed light lines set the figure in relief. These lines become denser and more frenetic above his head where his eyes seem to be looking, perhaps echoing the intensity of his thoughts. It is a powerful and compelling image.

References: See fine examples of work by Jutai in First Arts, 4 December 2023, Lot 40, and First Arts, 12 June 2023, Lot 93. See the interview with Jutai in “Still Life and Quick Wit Interview with Jutai Toonoo,” Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 27, No 2, Spring/Summer 2014, pp. 16-22. For an overview of the artist’s work on the human form, including his own, see the exhibition Jutai Toonoo: Body Contemplation, Toronto, Ontario, Feheley Fine Arts, 21 April - 12 May 2012, and the catalogue of the same name. See also the exhibition Life: A Retrospective Exhibition, Toronto, Ontario, Feheley Fine Arts, 5-26 March 2016 and accompanying catalogue.