Lot 14
PITSEOLAK ASHOONA, R.C.A., O.C., (1904-1983) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Printmaker: TIMOTHY OTTOCHIE (1904-1982) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Man with Beasts, 1963
stonecut, 23 1/2 x 28 in (59.7 x 71.1 cm)
33/50
ESTIMATE: $1,200 — $1,800
PRICE REALIZED: $1,320
Man with Beasts is a fine example of the dream-like images that were produced in the early 1960s in Kinngait. The man, whose torso and face are made entirely of negative space contained within the plush black ink of the caribou, is surrounded by swirl of howling and hooting beasts. The limbs and wings of the animals curl and wriggle from their bodies and the whole scene appears like a celestial dance.
According to Sandra Barz, Man with Beasts was misattributed to Napachie in the 1963 catalogue. Christine Lalonde discovered the original drawing by Pitseolak, which was confirmed by Terry Ryan in 1995.
The image was reproduced in Ernst Roch, ed., Arts of the Eskimo: Prints [Ottawa: Signum Press/Oxford Univ. Press, 1974], p. 73