Niviaksiak/ Niviaxie (1909-1959)
"Char Fisherman" 41/50 1959
Seal Skin Stencil
12” x 19” Image
23.5" x 17.5" Frame
Community: Kinngait (Cape Dorset)
Private Caledonia Collection
Excellent to Good Condition
Provenance: Purchased by Current Collections Aunt when in Cape Dorset in 1961 while on a Arctic Tour with the Ontario Teacher's Federation. Written Narrative accompanies the artwork, along with copy of the Arctic Tour's Itinerary
Biography
Niviaksiak was an influential Inuit artist from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut, known for his work in sculpture and early printmaking during the formative years of the Cape Dorset art movement. He was among the first Inuit artists to experiment with graphic work when printmaking was introduced in the 1950s, creating striking images that used abstraction, negative space, and multiple perspectives. Most of his prints were made using sealskin stencil techniques, often in monochrome, and his subjects frequently included scenes of life on the land and powerful animal figures such as polar bears. Although his career was cut short by his untimely death in 1959, Niviaksiak’s work contributed significantly to the early Cape Dorset print collections and is held in major museums across Canada and abroad.
