PARR (1893-1969) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Untitled (Hunter with Animals), 1962 #62
etching
plate: 9.7 x 11.875 in (24.8 x 30.2 cm)
sheet: 13 x 18 in (33 x 45.7 cm)
30/50
$1,000
Like all Kinngait etchings and engravings, this print is not based on a drawing; Parr incised (“drew”) directly onto the copper plate with a stylus rather than a pencil. Because this medium was difficult for him, it makes sense that he would have simplified his drawing style. Interestingly, Parr chose to do away with the intersecting lines that are so characteristic of his style at this time (although there is a hint of the horizontal “spine” line in a couple of the animals). Parr’s famous scratchy infill colouring is rather denser than it would have been in a drawing, because the acid bath used in the etching process widens and deepens the etched lines. The wonderfully vigourous quality of his lines is, however, beautifully preserved.
Reference: This etching is reproduced in Terry Ryan, “Parr” in The Beaver, Autumn 1979; this article was subsequently reprinted in Alma Houston, ed. Inuit Art: An Anthology (Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer, 1988) pp. 38-41.