Parr: Recording the Inuit Way of Life

A Life Drawn from the Land

Recognised as one of the most significant Inuit artists of the 20th century, Parr approached his work with an apparent sense of urgency, dedicating his final years to creating images which documented and preserved a unique vision of his environment. A vision informed by a traditional lifestyle spent hunting on the land.

Although little is known about his life before his brief but prolific artistic career, Parr’s drawings serve as vital visual records, offering insight into the nomadic lifestyle he experienced—one that was quickly disappearing.

About Parr

Born in 1893, on the rocky coastline of southern Baffin Island, Parr spent most of his life living in close relationship with the land, mastering the traditional skills necessary to survive. A successful hunter and trapper for more than six decades before moving to Kinngait (Cape Dorset) in 1961. Parr and his wife, Eleeshushe, who would also prove to be a talented artist, raised nine children in the traditional nomadic way of life, spending summers at a campsite at Tikerak and winters at Tessikjakuak where the fishing was plentiful, and the new Kinngait trading post nearby.

In 1961, Terry Ryan, the art advisor of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative (WBEC) in Kinngait, paid a visit to Parr to introduce him to drawing. During his time at WBEC, Ryan worked to expand local interest in drawing and printmaking. He could not have anticipated that introducing Parr to drawing would lead to such a prolific artistic career. It was only after Parr sustained a serious hunting injury that the family relocated to the new settlement of Kinngait, and Parr began to focus solely on his drawings.

Though he was already 68 years old when he began drawing—and despite the brevity of his career—Parr completed more than two thousand drawings, of which just 33 were translated into prints in his lifetime, with one print planned and executed posthumously.

In the introduction to the 1979 retrospective, Terry Ryan described how deeply committed Parr was to his practice, noting that even from his earliest efforts, Parr enthusiastically filled every page, covering both sides of the large sheets provided.

Parr’s Work

From the outset of his artistic career, Parr’s style remained consistent throughout the eight years he spent drawing. His direct, strong, and minimal lines do not necessarily attempt to translate how the world appears, but instead show us what Parr sees as essential in his subjects. Ryan described Parr’s work as uninhibited, with figures and scenes rendered without hesitation or self-doubt. Parr was neither influenced nor constrained by historical art traditions; his work was wholly inspired by the six decades he had spent living and hunting on the land. Of the subjects represented in the 34 prints, his most frequent was what he knew most intimately—the hunt.

As Ryan explains, the images and figures in Parr’s drawings were not represented with spatial perspective in mind, rather they were directly related to the significance within Parr’s world and mind. He depicted his own reality and, in doing so, asserted his place in history. Parr’s drawings offer valuable insight into a way of life vastly different from our own.

The 1979 exhibition catalogue underscores this point, noting: “Parr could have never realized during his lifetime the tremendous significance that his drawings have had in documenting cultural change among the Inuit.”[1] To this it might be added that Arctic art history is immeasurably enriched by Parr’s individual vision of an environment which included this change—and by the uniquely forceful and energetic images with which he gave it form.

[1] Parr, 1893-1969: A Print Retrospective (Cape Dorset: Kingait Press, 1979), 9.

About the Collection

In 1979, to mark the 10th anniversary of Parr’s death, Toronto art gallery, Gallery One, hosted a complete retrospective of his prints.

The 34-piece exhibition, painstakingly assembled over more than 15 years, may have been the only time to date that all of Parr’s printed works have been displayed together for public viewing.

Waddington’s is honoured to present this important collection in our Major Spring Auction: Inuit Art.

Lot 65
Parr ᐸ (1893-1969), Kinngait (Cape Dorset)
THE COMPLETE COLLECTION OF PRINTS, 1961-1974
Thirty-four prints, comprised of two stencils, twenty-six stonecuts, three engravings, and three etchings, including a copy of the Exhibition catalogue.
Estimate: $50,000-70,000

Special Preview Exhibition

The full collection of prints, will be on view at our Toronto gallery:

Sunday, May 11 from 12 noon to 4 pm
Monday, May 12 from 10 am to 5 pm
Tuesday, May 13 from 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday, May 14 from 10 am to 5 pm
Or by appointment.

About the Auction

Our major spring auction of important Inuit art includes selections from the collection of former Northwest Territories Arts and Crafts Development Officer David Sutherland, the complete collection of prints by Parr, assembled for the 1979 Parr retrospective, and significant works by Marion Tuu’luq, Karoo Ashevak, John Pangnark, Judas Ullulaq, Osuitok Ipeelee, Pauta Saila, Kenojuak Ashevak, Pudlo Pudlat, Joe Kiloonik, Oviloo Tunnillie, and others.

The auction is offered online May 8 – 29, 2025.

Please contact us for more information.