Eskimo Summer Tent

Description

‘Eskimo Summer Tent’ by Niviaksiak– Inuit Art – Cape Dorset 1959 print collection presented by DaVic Gallery of Native Canadian Arts.

Condition:        Very Good condition – excellent professional restoration work done for removal from framing, discoloration, handling marks and treatment of tape marks from previous framing.

Description by Artist:     No description by artist found.

Notes from DaVic Gallery:   ‘Eskimo Summer Tent’ is one of the eight prints by Niviaksiak included with the first Cape Dorset print collection released in 1959.  James Houston must have recognized that the artist’s crisp but essentially featureless silhouette images were tailor-made for the stencil process. Niviaksiak’s silhouette style is especially effective for this print given that the mother and child are shadowy figures inside a tent.

During the early years of experimental printmaking, stencilling was done using sealskin. Sealskin was scraped clean of the fur and tanned to make it a workable stencil. The pelts, however, were too stiff and tended to ripple, causing ink to bleed outside the image’s contour. The clean lines and perfect execution by Oshaweetuk Ipeelee of this valuable print by Naviaksiak is a testament to the technical mastery of the sealskin stencil printer, making this print a rarity.

At the time of posting this print on my gallery, this is a 65-year-old print kept in truly great condition making this an amazing find for collectors.

The blank sheet of letter-size (8.5” x 11”) paper covering part of the image is for size reference (last picture).