Lot description
Helen Kalvak (1901-1984) Inuit, Signed and Numbered Stonecut on Paper. Title: "Balancing Trick." Depicts figures in traditional Inuit styles. "Holman '83, Balancing Trick, 47/50, Kalvak RCA/Anaginak" written in pencil at bottom. A bio and black-and-white photograph of the artist is taped to the back of the frame. Written at the top of the back of frame in pen: "Purchased Santa Monica, California Sept. 1983 Done by Canadian Eskimo." Overall Size: 26 x 32 1/4 in. Sight Size: 29 x 25 1/4 in. Helen Kalvak was born at Tahiryuaq (also known as Tahiryuak Lake) on Victoria Island in 1901, and spent most of her life in simple Inuit pursuits, marrying her husband Edward Manayok in 1921 and teaching the ancient ways to her five children. After his sudden death in 1960 she moved to Holman (present day Ulukhaktok) and helped a Roman Catholic priest named Reverend Henri Tardy set up the Holman Eskimo Co-op. She converted to Christianity and began making artwork, drawing and painting depictions of traditional Inuit shamanistic rituals, hunts, and legends. In recognition of her work Kalvak was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1975, followed in 1978 by her appointment to the Order of Canada, by which time she had produced an estimated 2,000 drawings before Parkinson’s disease made it impossible to work with her hands. At the time of her death in 1984, Kalvak was one of the few remaining Inuit women in Ulukhaktok decorated with traditional beautifying facial kakiniq (tattoos), and with 176 prints she is still the Ulukhaktok artist with the largest body of published work to this day, having pieces on permanent display at the National Museum of Man in Ottawa, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in Toronto.