Inuit Art: An Introduction FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Inuit of the Canadian Arctic have created a contemporary art form that is acclaimed for its striking imagery, exquisite beauty, and occasional whimsy. In these powerful works the Inuit's unique way of life, traditional myths and beliefs, and the animals of the Arctic spring vividly to life. Inuit Art is the first book to introduce the full range of Inuit sculpture, prints, drawings, and textiles.
SYNOPSIS
This attractive, slightly oversize volume (9.5x11") provides an introduction to the different types of Inuit art produced in the Canadian Arctic from prehistoric times through the present. Ingo Hessel (for several years he was affiliated with the Canadian Inuit Art Information Centre) focuses the survey on sculpture, graphic arts, and textiles. The volume is organized chronologically, with initial chapters on the development of Inuit art, the geography of the Arctic and history of the Inuit people who live there, and major artistic themes and subjects. Three chapters focus on each type of art considered—sculpture, graphic arts, and textiles. The volume is well illustrated with b&w and color plates. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Native Americans of northern Canada (we would call them Eskimos; they prefer Inuit) inhabit a vast area covering all of upper Canada. In the 1950s, the bottom fell out of their staple money source, the fur market. Fortuitously, their carvings were discovered by the Canadian Handicrafts Guild in Montreal. Now, in some areas, 80 percent of the men and women make their living from carving and other arts. Hessel, a former arts official with the Canadian Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, shows the transformation of basic native craft to the varied, imaginative, and lively art available today. In the style of many books on Native Americans now, the ethnohistory of the tribe is reviewed and the evolution of mythic representations traced. Given few raw materials -- stone, bone, fur, and some ivory in older times and now paper with watercolors, pencils, and pens -- these isolated people produce art full of life and motion and permeated with their rich mythology. Though the scale is modest for most pieces, their physicality draws in the viewer. For larger art or ethnic collections.
-- Gay Neale, Southside Virginia Community College Library, Alberta
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