In the beginning, we printmakers and James Houston experimented continuously. I believe that is why we are now so successful in our work. When we were trained to be printers, we were willing and very interested [1].

Hidden for decades and unknown to even the Inuit print documenter Sandra Barz, Curlew Over Nest is, to our knowledge, making its first ever appearance in the market. An important discovery by one of the founding printmakers in Kinngait, it’s a pity that this “experiment” did not find its way into an annual print collection; the image certainly would have held its own beautifully. The delicately stencilled bird floats gracefully downward toward its nest of three olive green eggs.

1. From Lukta Qiatsuk’s “Foreword” in Dorset 75, the 1975 annual print collection catalogue, p. 8.

References: See Circle of Birds (1966 #52) by the artist. That print has a strikingly similar treatment of the feet and elongated beak, and a comparable balletic feel to the birds.

Lot 104