Lot 9
LUKTA QIATSUK (1928-2004)
Additional Images
Provenance:
James Houston, Connecticut;
Beekman H. Pool, New Hampshire;
W.A. Ross MacFadden, Toronto, ON
Note:
Lukta Qiatsuk, son of important early Kinngait (Cape Dorset) artist Kiakshuk (see lot 13 of this sale) was known both for his highly personal artistic vision as well as his experience and skill as a printer of many of the most esteemed Kinngait Images. [1, 2] Here the artist shows his many talents in this important and unreleased engraving Caribou Magic from the first year that copper engraving processes were introduced at Kinngait. [2, 3]
Fine lines and black arrow-like forms interplay against a toned background and the dark body of a caribou whose posture could be that of either aggressor or prey.
This print was gifted by James Houston to his friend Beekman H. Pool (1910-2004), a noted polar lecturer and the author of publications relating to life in the North, including the 1964 work The Chauncey C. Nash Collection: Contemporary Canadian Eskimo Art. [4]
A tag housed in a sleeve on the verso of the artwork’s frame reads: “Given to Beekman H. Pool by Jim Houston 1963”, and a second affixed tag reads: “I met James (Jim) Houston at the Gallery of Ontario on Wed. April 16, 1999. He confirmed he gave this engraving to Beekman H. Pool, a particular friend of his, as a house gift in 1963. / Ross MacFadden.”
Related Works:
Rough Legged Hawk, 1961 – see: Houston, James. Eskimo Prints, Massachusetts: Barre Publishing Co., Inc., 1967. p. 100-101.
References:
1. Barz, Sandra Buhai, Inuit Artists Print Workbook, New York: Arts and Culture of the North Publishers, 2003. Vol. III, Book 1, p. 20.
2. Inuit Art Quarterly, “Lukta-Qiatsuk”, IAQ. Accessed February 21, 2022. https://www.inuitartfoundation.org/profiles/artist/Lukta-Qiatsuk.
3. West Baffin Co-operative, Eskimo Graphic Art / Les Arts Graphiques Esquimaux 1966, Cape Dorset, N.W.T.: West Baffin Co-operative, 1967.
4. Legacy, “Beekman H. Pool Obituary”. Accessed February 21, 2022. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/beekman-pool-obituary?pid=2133865.