Lot 10
KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, C.C., R.C.A. (1927-2013) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Printmaker: STUDIO PM (MONTREAL)
Rabbit Eating Seaweed II, 1999
etching and aquatint
Plate: 14 1/4 x 21 1/2 in (36.2 x 54.6 cm)
Sheet: 24 x 31 1/2 in (61 x 80 cm)
5/50
ESTIMATE: $3,000 — $5,000
PRICE REALIZED: $3,080
Rabbit Eating Seaweed II is a Kenojuak which holds a special importance to me. In the lead up to the 1999 creation of Nunavut as well as the upcoming 40th anniversary of the 1959 Dorset print collection, I asked Terry Ryan if it would be possible to commission a special print by Kenojuak. As you know, her contribution to the 1959 collection was the magnificent Rabbit Eating Seaweed. I asked Terry to see if Kenojuak was willing to revisit the image and work with Studio PM to produce a larger variant using the relatively new (at the time) medium of etching and aquatint. Terry and I both agreed that it was important that this new work (we used the working title Rabbit Redux not be a faithful reproduction of the original image but rather a "contemporary re-interpretation.” I think that everyone involved in the project was particularly pleased. While I was initially concerned about my ability to sell all 50 copies, the edition sold out in just a few weeks with several collectors asking me for the edition numbers which corresponded to their copies of the 1959 original.
— Mark London