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QINNUAYUAK, Lucy

Born
Salluit, Quebec, 1915
Died
Cape Dorset, Nunavut, 1982
Biography synopsis
Lucy Qinnuayuak (Tickeetoo/Tikeetook/Quinnuajuak/Quinnuayak/Quinnayuak) was a prolific graphic artist born in Salluit, Northern Quebec (some sources state Coral Harbour, Northwest Territories, and Sugluk, Quebec). At a young age, she and her family moved to Baffin Island, where they settled in the Inuit community of Cape Dorset. Qinnuayuak later married Tikituk, a sculptor and graphic artist. In the 1950s, she learned drawing and printmaking while living in Supujuak camp, an outpost near Cape Dorset. Qinnuayuak's drawings were later transferred into prints. The most common motif in the artist's works is the bird, which is often depicted with human characteristics. Qinnuayuak's sophisticated compositions along with her lively color palette have made her one of the most respected Inuit artists of her generation. Qinnuayuak's works have been collected and exhibited across Canada and internationally. In 1989, Arctic Artistry in New York held a solo exhibition of the artist's work titled "Birds and Flowers: Eskimo Graphics by Lucy Quinnuayuak." One of her designs was chosen to adorn an Olympic banner in 1976. In the 1970s, she began experimenting with acrylics and mixed media, creating highly expressive paintings. Qinnuayuak's drawings and prints are presently located at the Canadian Museum of History in Hull, the Edmonton Art Gallery, the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Museum of Anthropology in British Columbia, among many others.
Media used
Drawing
Painting
Printmaking
Sculpture
File & Archive locations
University of Calgary Library, AB
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, ON - Library and Archives
London Public Library, ON
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, ON - Resource Centre
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
American Indian Art Magazine 26 (2000): 77-79
Biographies of Inuit Artists, Volumes One and Two. Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers, Arctic Co-operatives Limited, 1984
Cape Dorset Calendar 1983. Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories: West-Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, 1981
"Cape Dorset Inuit Art and Inuit Cultural Perspectives/ Art Inuit de Cape Dorset et perspectives culturelles des Inuits." SchoolNet Digital Collections Project Ottawa: Industry Canada, 2000
"In Memoriam." About Arts and Crafts 5.3 (1982): 26-28
"Lucy Quinnuayuak." Spirit Wrestler Gallery 2010
http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=73
"Nine Women Artists to Be Honored." Inuit Art Quarterly 7.1 (Winter 1992): 43
"Optimistic Owl." [Reproduction] Inuit Art Quarterly 18.3 (Fall 2003): 6
"Owl With Bright Plumage and Two Figures Wearing Parkas." [Reproduction] Inuit Art Quarterly 19.2 (Summer 2004): cover
"Pilatuktu (Skinning the Seal)." [Reproduction] Inuit Art Quarterly 24.2 (Summer 2009): 5
AboriginArt Galleries. "Lucy Qinnuayuak (Tickeetoo; Quinnuajuak; Tikeetook)." Inuit.net 1995
http://inuitarteskimoart.com/artists/b-inuitarteskimoart-Qinnuayuak_Lucy.html
Albers Gallery of Inuit Art. Paintings from Cape Dorset. San Francisco, California: 2000
Art Gallery of Ontario. Flights of Fancy. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1990
Beaverbrook Art Gallery. The Murray and Marguerite Vaughan Inuit Print Collection. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1981
Blakeman, Evelyn. "Lucy Quinnuajuak (1915-1982) [In Memoriam]." Inuit Art Enthusiasts Newsletter (Nov. 1982): 1-4
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Inuit Gallery of Vancouver. Return of the Birds. Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1983
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