Artist: Pudlo Pudlat, Canadian Inuit, 1916-1992.

Title: Eskimo hunting geese, in pencil lower left

Signature: Pudlat, in pencil lower right and Chop Mark

Date: 1964, in pencil lower right

Edition: 9/50

Medium: Stonecut, in pencil in center

Framed: 24.5” L x 13.5” H

Viewable Art: 20” L x 9” H

Condition: Excellent print. The paper is inherently “crinkly”.

Bio-

Pudlo Pudlat (Pudlo). February 4, 1916 - December 28, 1992. Pudlo Pudlat lived for much of his life in the Kimmirut region, hunting and fishing to provide for his family. He moved to Cape Dorset in the late 1950s, and here he began his career as an artist. Pudlat was a Canadian Inuit artist whose preferred medium was a combination of acrylic wash and coloured pencils. Considered one of the most original contemporary Inuit artists, Pudlat was known for depicting the transition from traditional nomadic Inuit lifestyles to modern technologies. His works are in the collections of most Canadian museums. Pudlat was the first Inuit artist to be honoured with a retrospect of his work at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, ON, titled Pudlo: Thirty Years of Drawing from 1990 to 1991. At his death in 1992, Pudlo left a body of work that included more than 4000 drawings and 200 prints.

Stonecut-

Stonecut is an elegant process and Cape Dorset printmakers have refined it to a fine art. The first step is tracing the original drawing and applying it to the smooth surface of the prepared stone. Using india ink, the stonecutter delineates the drawing on the stone and then cuts away the areas that are not to appear in print, leaving the uncut areas raised, or in relief. The raised area is inked using rollers and then a thin sheet of paper - usually fine, handmade Japanese paper - is placed over the inked surface. A protective sheet of tissue is placed over this sheet, and the paper is pressed gently against the stone by hand with a small, padded disc. Only one print can be pulled from each inking of the stone, so the edition takes time and patience and care.