Excited Man Forgets His Weapon

Description

‘Excited Man Forgets His Weapon’ by Akesuk Tudlik – Inuit Art – Cape Dorset 1959 print collection presented by DaVic Gallery of Native Canadian Arts.

Condition:          Professionally restored for light discoloration of the paper and matburn.  Also to refill thinned paper on top edge from previous tape removal.  Remains pencil inscriptions in verso that records of provenance.  Image is unaffected and overall print is in very good condition.

Provenance:     Walker’s Auctions; Albrecht Collection; Feheley Fine Arts;

Description by Artist:     No description by artist found.

Notes from DaVic Gallery:   This is as of today one of the oldest and difficult to source prints I have available in my collection.   Tudlik died in 1966 and his art shows less modern or western influence with a more “raw” approach to his view of day to day life in the arctic.   First European settlers described Inuit as happy people, and we can see some of this “humour” even in this most dangerous situation of life or death.  This hunter appears to giving chase to a polar bear and her cub.  What could be more dangerous than that, and in addition, the hunter is giving chase to the bears without his weapons.   Perhaps a different perspective is that the placement of the bears and the man have no direction but only presence in the print and the hunter is surprised by the bears and gets ready to run away, but again, forgetting to get his weapons.  No matter what the perspective is, I cannot see or picture in my mind another outcome than the sure death of our hero.

Interesting to note that the man’s left hand shows six fingers, five of them folded inwards, while the right hand shows five outstretched fingers.  The bears look well fed already though, nice and fat.

Framing recommended for display.

Tags: Art collectors; Indigenous Art; Native Art; Inuit Art
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