LUKE ANGUHADLUQ (1895-1982) QAMANI’TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
Fishing Camp, 1970 (1971 #28)
Printmaker: THOMAS IKSIRAQ (1941-1991) QAMANI'TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
stonecut and stencil, 12 x 19 in (30.5 x 48.3 cm)
6/50

ESTIMATE: $1,500 — $2,500

Provenance
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.

In Fishing Camp, Luke Anguhadluq recreates a favourite summer activity from his former life in the Back River area, capturing the communal spirit and gender roles inherent in the traditional Utkuhikhalingmiut way of fishing. Men stand poised with nigshiit, gaffs they will use to rake the shoals of yellow and black fish in the haputit (weir) at the top. Awaiting their cue, they look towards the camp leader, whom Anguhadluq portrays as noticeably larger, emphasizing his central role. Women with children in their amautiit stand by with their ulus ready to clean the impending catch. To the right, figures assemble skin tents that are spontaneously inked in bright red and blue, which adds a captivating extra burst of colour to the image. The entire scene radiates with the palpable excitement that would have coursed through the participants of these communal fishing endeavors.

References: This print is reproduced in Charles H. Moore, “Anguhadluq's art: Memories of the Utkuhikhalingmiut,” Études Inuit Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1978, fig 2, p. 10. For the original drawing for this print see Cynthia Waye Cook, From the Centre: The Drawings of Luke Anguhadluq, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1993), cat. 1, p. 61; the author discusses the imagery at length on pages 22-23. For a similarly comprehensive scene of the summer fish, see a work by Anguhadluq’s wife, Marion Tuu’luuq, Fishing Camp, 1973, First Arts, 14 June 2022, Lot 67, reproduced in Jean Blodgett, Tuu'luq / Anguhadluq: An Exhibition of Works by Marion Tuu'luq and Luke Anguhadluq of Baker Lake, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1976), cat. 9. Utkuhikhalingmiut means “the people of the place where there is soapstone” or “people who have cooking pots.”