Red Fox Stonecut Printer: Cee Pootoogook Paper: Kizuki Kozo Natural 53 x 68.8
A great international love affair marks its 53rd anniversary this weekend. Yes, it's the annual release of the Cape Dorset Prints to select dealers across Canada and the United States. This fall, 30 prints by 12 Inuit artists affiliated with the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative are for sale, each in an edition of 50, ranging in price from $350 to $1,800. The artist with the largest number of offerings (seven) is none other than the legendary Kenojuak Ashevak, who, at 85, has been producing work for the program virtually from its inception in 1959. One of her earliest stonecut prints, the iconic Enchanted Owl, issued in 1960 (and famously reproduced in 1970 as a postage stamp), sold at auction in Toronto five years ago for almost $53,000, a record. Other artists with multiple prints this year include Tim Pitsiulak, Papiara Tukiki and Ningeokuluk Teevee.