ONLINE AUCTION
Inuit Art | Graphic Works
2nd session

August 04 - August 25, 2022

LOT DETAILS
          
          
          
          

This session is closed for bidding.
Current bid: $37,500 CAD
Bidding History
Paddle # Date Amount

11184 25-Aug-2022 01:17:32 PM $37,500

6424 25-Aug-2022 09:36:55 AM $35,000

11184 25-Aug-2022 12:18:59 AM $32,500

6424 24-Aug-2022 08:14:24 PM $30,000

11184 24-Aug-2022 08:13:03 PM $27,500

6424 23-Aug-2022 07:23:32 PM $25,000

26660 23-Aug-2022 02:54:21 PM $22,500 AutoBid

6424 23-Aug-2022 02:54:21 PM $20,000

26660 23-Aug-2022 02:47:08 PM $19,000 AutoBid

6424 05-Aug-2022 05:24:15 PM $18,000

The bidding history list updated on: Thursday, October 31, 2024 07:40:35

LOT 109

CC RCA
1927 - 2013
Canadian

The Woman Who Lives in the Sun
stonecut on paper
titled, editioned 20/50, dated 1960, inscribed "Cape Dorset Baffin Island" and "Kenojuak" and stamped with the West Baffin Eskimo Co-Operative seal
19 1/2 x 26 in, 49.5 x 66 cm

Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

Sold for: $46,250

Preview at:

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
James Houston, Eskimo Prints, 1971, reproduced page 38
Ernst Roch, Arts of the Eskimo: Prints, 1974, reproduced front cover and page 37
Jean Blodgett, Kenojuak, 1985, reproduced catalogue #10
Leslie Boyd Ryan, Cape Dorset Prints: A Retrospective, 2007, reproduced page 53
Gerald McMaster et al., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010, reproduced page 81
Anna Hudson et al., Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitseiulak, 2018, reproduced page 81


In Inuit culture, the sun is feminine, and Kenojuak joyfully portrays this in her print, The Woman Who Lives in the Sun. With her distinctive style, the sun's rays closely resemble the plumage of her famous owl prints, while chin tattoos radiate from the smiling face. Produced in an edition of 50, the first 25 were printed in yellow, and the second half in a red-orange – a decision made in haste as the yellow paint ran dry. Yellow, the colour of the sun, was the obvious first choice for colour; though the red version of this print may be more dramatic when reproduced in books, the yellow version has a luminosity that is difficult to match.

In a 1979 interview with Marion Jackson, Kenojuak confirmed that the inspiration for this print came from an Inuit myth about the sun and moon. After a brother and sister unknowingly committed incest, the sister fled into the sky in shame, carrying a brightly lit torch. The brother chased after her, but his torch went out, and he became the moon, while his sister transformed into the sun.

Print Maker: Lukta Qiatsuk (1928-2004)


All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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