(Digitized catalogue below) The Art of Collecting Over the past decade, Feheley Fine Arts has been proud to feature several exhibitions of Inuit art from significant private collections, including the Klamer Family, Jack Butler and Sheila Butler, and Terry Ryan. However — for a multitude of personal reasons — sometimes collectors prefer to remain anonymous. While we work diligently to … Read More
Art by Women
(Digitized catalogue below) Foreword At the dawn of the twenty-first century, some people might question the necessity of another exhibition devoted to the artistic expression of Inuit women. Surely, they would say, the point has been well made in over twenty group exhibitions (and even more solo exhibitions) of Inuit women’s art since the mid-1970s in galleries across North America. … Read More
Material Culture: The Art of Mayureak Ashoona
(Digitized catalogue below) “These are all about history – what has been going on. They are memories; the whole truth about all of life for those who forget about their history; to make sure that the young people know what really happened; to work both sides, from the past to the future; to communicate with people in the South because … Read More
Cross-Currents: Cape Dorset in the 1960s
(Digitized catalogue below) Foreword by Terry Ryan My recollections of Cape Dorset during the notable decade of the 1960s unlike the frenetic sixties here in the Southern Hemisphere, was of a place only slowly awakening from a long period of relative tranquility. Our Federal Government of that time had only recently shown an expressed interest in things north of 60 … Read More
Spirit of the Walrus
The walrus is among the most popular and recognizable subjects of Inuit art. In realistic depictions or mythological compositions, the walrus is a recurrent and powerful spirit. Walruses are massive mammals, larger than the polar bear, living on the ice across the eastern Canadian Arctic. The name, walrus, is from the Danish hvalros (sea cow). For centuries, the Inuit have … Read More
Material Matters: The Media of Inuit Art
(Digitized catalogue below) Introduction Artists worldwide grapple with the materials they use to translate ideas into physical form and the Inuit are no exception. Some begin with the flat surface of a page on which to build up an image from inspired marks, while others work to free their subject from an existing substance such as stone. The materials chosen … Read More
Transformed: The Last Works of Sheojuk Etidlooie
(Digitized catalogue below) “Aanaan [My mother], your wisdom, strength and guidance have and always will guide us through life. We all miss you. Your loving son,” – Pauloosie Suvega, Iqaluit, 1999 “We didn’t realize how well-known my mother was in the south. She rarely spoke about her art. We thought she just wanted to be able to provide for her … Read More
Facing Dorset: John Reeves – Portraits of the Artists of Cape Dorset
An arrested gaze. A weathered cheek. Light flooding the surface of a printing stone. The intimate actions of an artist lost in the act of creation. These are John Reeves’ photographs of the Inuit artists of Cape Dorset. In glowing whites and inky blacks, he has immortalized the residents of the north during visits to the Canadian Arctic spanning more … Read More
The Butler Collection: Early Baker Lake Drawings
(Digitized catalogue below) Foreword Patricia Feheley The Formation of the new Canadian territory of Nunavut on April 1, 1999 marks the most significant event in a year filled with celebrations for the Inuit and for Inuit art. Feheley Fine Arts is pleased to join in the celebrations and to pay tribute to the artists of Baker Lake in presenting The … Read More
Sheojuk Etidlooie: Original Drawings
(Digitized catalogue below) Our perception of an artist is that technique can be learned but talent is latent, lying dormant until stirred by opportunity. Sheojuk’s opportunity came late in life. She did not begin to draw until she was in her mid-60’s, as the result of a chance occurrence. Barely six months later, the first of her distinctive images appeared … Read More
The Ryan Collection: Early Cape Dorset Sculpture
(Digitized catalogue below) Foreword The world is by now familiar with the art of Cape Dorset, but few know the man behind the scenes who has facilitated and furthered this international success. Forty years have passed since Terry Ryan’s first visit to Cape Dorset in 1958. His arrival in the north coincided with a period of dramatic change in the … Read More
Old Friends: Graphics from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art
(Digitized catalogue below) Harry and Marcia Klamer began collecting Inuit art in 1961. Over thirty years they acquired one of the largest and most admired collections in the world. In 1978 the Klamers gave part of their fine collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario, so that it might be seen and enjoyed by all who share a love of … Read More