ANNIE POOTOOGOOK (1969-2016) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Sculptor with Pipe, c. 2003-04
coloured pencil and ink on paper, 20 x 25.75 in (50.9 x 65.5 cm)
signed, "ᐊᓂ ᐳᑐᒍ".

ESTIMATE: $10,000 — $15,000

Provenance
Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto;
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.

Published
Feheley Fine Arts, Unique Visions, (Toronto: Feheley Fine Arts, 2005), cat. no. 32, p. ???;
Nancy Campbell, Annie Pootoogook, (Toronto: The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, 2005), p. 26;
Nancy Campbell, Annie Pootoogook, (Calgary: Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art + Design, 2007), p. 35;
Nancy Campbell, Annie Pootoogook: Cutting Ice, (Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions / Kleinburg: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2017), 57. Nancy Campbell, “Curatorial Notes: Annie Pootoogook: Cutting Ice” in Inuit Art Quarterly (Vol. 31.2, Summer 2018:58-60), p. 60;
Nancy Campbell, Annie Pootoogook: Her Life & Work, (Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2020), e-book, p. 63.

Exhibited
Toronto, Feheley Fine Arts, Unique Visions, 5-30 November 2005, cat. no. 32;
Toronto, The Power Plant, Annie Pootoogook, 24 June - 4 September 2006, cat. ???;
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary, AB, Annie Pootoogook, 11 January - 28 March 2007, cat. no. ???;
Kleinberg, ON, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Annie Pootoogook: Cutting Ice, 2 September 2017 - 11 February 2017, no cat. no.

Annie Pootoogook identified this drawing as a portrait of her father, Eegyvudluk Pootoogook. The brother of Kananginak, Eegyvudluk was a hunter, sculptor, and master printmaker in the Kinngait Studios. Though not a large drawing, Sculptor with Pipe is nonetheless a monumental composition. The sleeves and buttons of the blue shirt that fill the upper part of the drawing lead directly to the focal point of the drawing, the large image of folded hands. One finger sports a band-aid, suggesting a life of hard work. The pipe and the lighter, adorned with the word “Kinngait” and an image of a walking polar bear, hint at a favourite pastime; the folded hands indicate that this is a quiet domestic moment. It is a surprisingly simple image for Pootoogook but one that was created with love, a visual ode to her beloved, strong, and yet gentle father.