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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
"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
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
Blakeman, Evelyn. "Stones, Bones, Cloth and Paper: Inuit Art in Edmonton Collections." Inuit Art Enthusiasts Newsletter (Dec. 1984): 1-3
Blodgett, Jean. Eskimo Narrative Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1979
Blodgett, Jean. Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections From the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983
Blodgett, Jean. In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking Kleinburg, Ont.: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1991
Casino Gallery. Ulu/Inua: Form and Fantasy in Eskimo Art Ravinia Park, Chicago: 1974
Cherry, Zena. "After Fashion: After 82 Years, A First." Globe and Mail (13 Apr. 1976)
Collinson, Helen, et al. Inuit Games and Contests: The Clifford E. Lee Collection of Prints Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta Press, 1978
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Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Chisel and Brush/Le ciseau et la brosse Ottawa: Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1987
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada New York: Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1983
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. We Lived by Animals/ Nous vivions des animaux Ottawa: Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1978
Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Die Kunst aus der Arktis Frankfurt, Germany: (1985-1986)
Driscoll-Engelstad, Bernadette. Uumajut - Animal Imagery in Inuit Art Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1985
Eber, Dorothy Harley. "Visits With Pia." Beaver (Winter 1983): 20-27
Furneaux, Patrick & Rosshandler, Leo. Arts of the Eskimos: Prints Montreal: Signum Press and Oxford University Press, 1974
Gimpel, Charles. "A Collector's View." Beaver (Autumn 1967): 72-75
Goetz, Helga. The Contemporary Eskimo Prints and Sculpture Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, 1977
Government of Canada. Canadian Aboriginal Art at the Senate Ottawa: Government of Canada, 2007
Gray, Philip Howard. Directory of Eskimo Artists in Sculpture and Prints Bozeman, Montana: Philip Howard Gray, 1974
Gustavison, Susan. Arctic Expressions: Inuit Art and the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, 1961-1989 Kleinburg, Ontario: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1994
Hale, Barrie. "The Snow Prints: Inuit Visions in an Adopted Art Form." Toronto Star (5 Jun. 1976)
Heller, Jules and Nancy. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century New York: Garland, 1995
Hobbs, Anna. "From Cape Dorset: The Vivid Imagery of Our Inuit Artists." Canadian Living (Nov. 1982): 41-47
Houston, James A. Eskimo Prints Longmans Canada, 1971
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver. Return of the Birds Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1983
Jackson, Marion E. & Judith Nasby. Contemporary Inuit Drawings Guelph, Ontario: MacDonald Stewart Art Centre, 1987
Jackson, Marion Elizabeth. "Inuit Prints: Impressions of a Culture in Transition." LSA 9.1 (Fall 1985): 6-12
Jerusalem Artists' House Museum. Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics Jerusalem: Na'amat, 1978
Lagassé, Robert. Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel, May 1 Through June 8, 1986 Burnaby, British Columbia: Burnaby Art Gallery, 1986
Lalonde, Christine. "Artists in the Arctic." Inuit Art Quarterly 18.3 (Fall 2003): 40-42
Lerner, Loren R. and Mary F. Williamson. Art and Architecture in Canada: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature to 1981 Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991
Leroux, Odette, Marion E. Jackson and Minnie Aodla. Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset Vancouver, British Columbia: Douglas & McIntyre, 1994
Lewin, Michelle. Art By Women: An Investigation of Inuit Sculpture and Graphics Toronto, Ontario: Feheley Fine Arts, 2002
Lipton, Barbara. Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit: A Traveling Exhibition Canadian Arctic Producers, 1984
Lutz, Maija. "The Raven and the Loon: Inuit Prints and Sculptures from the Chauncey C. Nash Collection." Inuit Art Quarterly 15.2 (Summer 2000): 30-1
Muscarelle Museum of Art. Contemporary Inuit Drawings: The Gift Collection of Frederick and Lucy S. Herman Williamsburg, Virginia: College of William and Mary in Virginia, 1993
National Gallery of Canada; Canadian Eskimo Art Committee. Cape Dorset - A Decade of Eskimo Prints and Recent Sculptures Ottawa: 1967
National Gallery of Modern Art. Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture Rome, Italy: 1981
National Museum of Man. The Inuit Print Ottawa: National Museum of Man, 1977-1982
Opperman, Hal N. "The Inuit Phenomenon in Art - Historical Context." Inuit Art Quarterly 1.2 (Summer 1986): 1-4
Pratt, Mary. "Art of the Caribou People." Denver Magazine 6.9 (August 1976): 36-40
Raven Gallery. Lucy Quinnuayuak 1915-1982: A Retrospective Show Minneapolis: 1983
Rice, Angele B. & Michael M.; Albers Gallery of Inuit Art. Amarok: The Wolf: Sculpture and Drawings San Francisco: 2006
Richards, Jean. "Inuit Print-Makers Retrospective." Edmonton Journal (31 March 1980)
Routledge, Marie. Inuit Art in the 1970's/L'Art Inuit actuel Kingston, Ontario: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1979
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Toronto-Dominion Bank. The Eskimo Art Collection of the Toronto Dominion Bank Toronto: Toronto-Dominion Bank, 1972
Trigger, Bruce G. & Washburn, Wilcomb E., eds. The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas: North America, Volume 1 New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996
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West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. 1992 Cape Dorset Graphics Annual Toronto: 1992
West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. Cape Dorset Graphics. [Annual] Toronto: M.F. Feheley, 1961-1983
West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. Dorset 79: The Twentieth Annual Cape Dorset Graphics Collection Toronto: M.F. Feheley, 1979
West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. Eskimo Graphic Art 1964-65/L'Art graphique des Esquimaux Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories: West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, 1964-1965
West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. Eskimo Graphic Art/Les arts graphiques Esquimaux Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories: West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, 1966
West-Baffin Eskimo Co-operative, et al. Qallunaaqtait Sikusilaarmit = Printed Textiles from Kinngait Studios Toronto: Textile Museum of Canada, 2020.
Winnipeg Art Gallery. Looking South Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978
Winnipeg Art Gallery. The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978
Woodget, G.R.S. The Woodget Collection of Eskimo Art and Artifacts Halifax: Nova Scotia Museum of Fine Art, 1970

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