Lucy Quinnauyuak

"Lucy Quinnuayuak is a prolific graphic artist, well known for illustrations of her favorite theme - the bird image, either singularly or in groups, and in all sorts of situations or relationships. She also depicts other themes which spring from her personal interpretation of the Canadian Inuit traditional way of life. She was born in Salluit, in northen Quebec. At a very young age Qinnuayuak, along with her mother and sister, moved to Baffin Island, where they lived in Cape Dorset and in several outpost camps. She met her husband, Tikituk, a sculptor and graphic artist, at Supujuak camp where they enjoyed a traditional way of life. In the early 1960s they moved to Cape Dorset.

Lucy Quinnuayuak started to draw in the 1950s while living in Supujuak camp. Her drawings were turned into graphics from 1961 until 1983, excluding 1973. She also created her own plastic repertoire of forms that clearly defines the aesthetic values in her works. Over the years she has drawn all kinds of birds in various poses- the features of their eyes and feathers connecting them to each other. In her compositions movement and stability are often ambiguously juxtaposed.

At the end of 1970s, Quinnuayak began working with acrylic paint in conjunction with other mixed media. Her compositions from that period are colorful, extremely vibrant, and powerful. They are much more elaborate and complex with a broader story line. Qinniuayuak's art is realistic and humorous, and it reflects the traditional Inuit way of life."
- From "Lucy Qinnuayuak (1915-1982)", 1995

Lucy's prints were first published in 1961, and she has contributed to every annual collection but one since that time. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions at private galleries, and is included in major public institutions. Her work was last published in the 1982 annual print collection, which included twelve of her images. Lucy continued to draw even though she was seriously ill, and died in the fall of that year.
Dorset Fine Arts

Born on 1915 in Salluit, QC. Died on September 10, 1982. Nationality is Inuit

Exhibitions

2018 Cape Dorset Spring Graphics Release
2003 Then and Now- Inuit Prints from 1962-2002, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver Ltd, Vancouver, BC
2002 Art By Women: An Investigation of Inuit Sculpture and Graphics, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2002 Cape Dorset Prints: 1961-1976, The Albers Gallery of Inuit Art, San Francisco, CA
2000 Cross-Currents, Cape Dorset in the 1960's, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2000 Paintings from Cape Dorset, The Albers Gallery of Inuit Art, San Francisco, CA
2000 Arctic Spirit- Canadian Inuit Sculpture, Boise State University, Boise, ID
1999 Lucy Qinnuayuak: Facing Dorset, Exhibition by John Reeves, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1999 Inuit Art and Nova Scotian Art, Houston North Gallery, Luneburg, NS
1997 Graphite and Stone Sculpture & Drawing : Baffin Artists in two mediums, Spirit Wrestler, Vancouver, BC
1997 Art from the Top of The World: The story of the Inuit at 360. Isaacs/Inuit Gallery and the 360 Restaurant the CN Tower, Toronto, ON
1997 Singing & Dancing & Playing, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1996 Imaak Takujavut: The way we see it, Paintings from Cape Dorset, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
1996 Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art, Canadian Guild of Craft Quebec, Montreal, PQ
1995 - 96 Imaak Takujavut: Paintings from Cape Dorset, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
1995 - 96 Inuit Woman: Life and Legend in Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1995 Cape Dorset Impressions: Inuit Stonecut and Stencil Print Techniques, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
1994 - 95 Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, PQ
1994 - 95 Cape Dorset Revisited, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
1994 Arctic Spirit: 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
1994 Cape Doset Revisited- A collection of previously unreleased prints, exhibited at selected commercial galleries, Cape Dorset, NU
1994 Kunst aus der Arktis, Volkerkundmuseum der Universitat Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
1993 - 94 Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA
1992 Original Drawings from Cape Dorset, by Lucy, Pitseolak, Kingmeata, Albers Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1992 Inuit Art: Drawings and Recent Sculpture, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
1991 - 92 In Cape Dorset We Do it This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON
1991 - 92 Moving Around the Form: Inuit Sculpture and Prints, Agnes Etherington Art Center, Queen's University, Kingston, ON
1991 Cape Doset Sculpture, McMaster Art Gallery, Hamilton, ON
1991 Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art from Canada, at Bunkamura Art Gallery, presented by the U of BC Museum of
Anthropology, Vancouver, BC
1990 Small Sculptures from across the Canadian Arctic, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1990 Arctic Life and Spirit, Gallery Phillip, Don Mills, ON
1990 Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959-1990, Arctic Artistry, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
1990 Inuit Drawings, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
1989 - 91 Flights of Fancy-Kenojuak Ashevak, Lucy Quinnuayuak, Pitaloosie Salia, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
1989 Solo: Birds and Flowers: Eskimo Graphics, Arctic Artistry, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
1989 Dorset: dessins originaux/ original drawings, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, Montreal, PQ
1989 Inuit Graphic Art from Indian & Northern Affairs Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1989 Mother and Child: Selections from the Inuit Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
1989 A New Day Dawning: Early Cape Dorset Prints, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1989 Cape Dorset Women Artists, Kenojuak, Pitaloosie and Lucy, Gallery Indigena, Stratford, ON
1989 Birds: Sculpture from Cape Dorset & Rock Ptarmigan Limited Edition, Print by Kananginak, The Guild Shop, Toronto, ON
1989 Kingmeata & Lucy: Cape Dorset Drawings, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1989 Cape Dorset Printmaking 1959-1989, McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinburg, ON
1988 Memories of Summers Past, Houston North Gallery, Lunenburg, NS
1988 Early Cape Dorset Prints: Kenojuak, Pitseolak, Lucy, Kananginak, Kopapik, Houston North Gallery, Lunenburg, NS
1988 Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1988 Canadian Prints from the McMaster Art Gallery Collection, McMaster Art Gallery, Hamilton, ON
1988 The World Around Me, University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, AB
1988 A Collector's Feast, Snow Goose Associates, Seattle, WA
1987 - 89 Contemporary Inuit Drawings, MacDonald Stewart Art Center, Guelph, ON
1987 Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961-1987, Arctic Artistry, Hartsdale, NY
1987 The Lindsay and Swartz Collections: New Acquisitions, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1986 Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare Prints from the Arctic, Arctic Artistry, Scarsdale, NY
1986 Exhibition and Balloted Sale of Canadian Art, Art For All, Edmonton, AB
1986 Premiere Exhibit of 1986, Page's Exclusive Eskimo Art, Agoura Hills, CA
1986 Contemporary Inuit Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
1986 Cape Dorset Prints and Sculpture, McMaster Art Gallery, Hamilton, ON
1986 Cape Dorset Through the Years: 25 years of Graphics and Sculpture, Arctic Artistry, Scarsdale, NY
1985 - 87 Chisel and Brush, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, ON
1985 - 86 Die Kunst aus der Arktis, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, presented by Commerzbank, Frankfurt,
Germany
1985 Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1984 - 86 Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers,
Ottawa, ON
1984 - 85 Stones, Bones, Cloth, and Paper: Inuit Art in Edmonton Collections, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, AB
1984 Cape Dorset Prints: Twenty-Five Years, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON
1984 Demons and Spirits and those who wrestled with them, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1984 On the Land, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1983 - 85 Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, UN General Assembly
Building, New York, NY
1983 - 85 Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
1983 Return of the Birds, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
1983 Solo: Lucy Qinnuayuak; A Retrospective Show, Raven Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
1983 Hunter of the Sacred Game: Traditional Life on the Land, organized by the Arts and Learning Service Foundation, Minneapolis, MN
1983 Return to Origins III, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1983 Cape Dorset Print, Presented at Rideau Hall by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON
1983 The Arctic/L'Artique, UNESCO, Paris, France
1982 Inuit Sculpture and Prints from the Collection Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC
1982 Return to Origins II, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1982 Drawings: Three Cape Dorset Women, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
1982 December Choice: Arctic Wildlife, Galerie Elca London, Montreal, PQ
1981 - 83 The Murray and Marguerite Vaughan Inuit Print Collection, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredricton, NB
1981 The Year Of The Bear, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1981 Return to Origins, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1981 Festival of Birds, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1981 Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture/Giuochi Eschimesi: Grafichee Sculpture, National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome, Italy
1981 Transformation, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1980 The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art from the Art Gallery Of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
1980 The Dorset Group Of Four - Drawings and Prints by Kenojuak, Lucy, Parr, and Pitseolak, Canadian Galleries, Edmonton, AB
1980 Inuit Master Artists of the 1970s, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
1980 Inuit Art In the 1970s, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Agnes Ettherington Art Center, Kingston, ON
1979 21 x 12, Inuk 1 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1979 Inuit Prints, University of New Brunswick Long Gallery, St. John Campus, St. John, NB
1979 Eskimo Narrative, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1979 Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative exhibition from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Philip Gray, Montana State University,
Bozeman, MT
1979 Solo: Acrylic Works on Paper by Lucy, Mazelow Gallery, Toronto, ON
1978 Eskimo Art, Embankment Gallery, London, England
1978 Looking South, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1978 Inuit Games and Contests: The Clifford E. Lee Collection of Prints, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB
1978 Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics, Jerusalem Artists' House Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
1978 The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1977 - 82 The Inuit Print, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Deverlopment and the National Museum of Man, Ottawa, ON
1977 The Eskimo Woman: Her life and dreams in prints and sculpture, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1977 The Hunter and the Hunted: The Way of the Inuit, The Arctic Circle, Los Angeles, CA
1977 The Contemporary Eskimo Prints and Sculpture, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth, TX
1977 Solo: Lucy; Drawings, Waddington Galleries, Montreal, PQ
1976 Selections from the Toronto-Dominion Collection of Eskimo Art, National Arts Center, Ottawa, ON
1976 Cape Dorset Prints, London Art Gallery, Organized for the Central Huron Library, Clinton, ON
1975 - 76 We Lived By Animals, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in cooperation with the Department of External
Affairs, Ottawa, ON
1974 Ulu/Inua: Form and Fantasy in Eskimo Art, Casino Gallery, Ravinia Park, Chicago, IL
1974 Solo: Lucy; Retrospective Prints, Beckett Gallery, Hamilton, ON
1973 - 74 Eskimo Sculpture, Waddington Galleries, Montreal, PQ
1973 Canadian Eskimo Lithographs: Third Collection Presented by Cultural Affairs Division, Ottawa, ON
1972 The Toronto-Dominion Bank Collection, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto, ON
1971 The Art of the Eskimo, Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
1970 The Woodget Collection of Eskimo Art and Artifacts, Nova Scotia Museum of Fine Art, Halifax, NS
1970 Graphics Art by Eskimos of Canada: First Collection, Cultural Affairs Division, Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, ON
1970 Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival, Alaska Methodist University Galleries, Anchorage, AK
1970 Graphics Art by Eskimos of Canada: Second Collection, Cultural Affairs Division, Department of External Affairs, Ottawa, ON
1969 The Eskimo, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
1967 Cape Dorset- A Decade of Eskimo Prints & Recent Sculpture, National Gallery of Canada, in co-op with the Canadian Eskimo Art
Committee, Ottawa, ON
1967 The Eskimo Art Collection of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto- Dominion Bank, Toronto, ON
1967 Inoonoot Eskima: Grafik och Skulptur fran, Cape Dorset och Povungnituk, Stockholm, Sweden
1963 Art Eskimo, Galerie de France, Paris France
1961 - 83 Cape Dorset Graphics Annual Collection
1961 Contemporary Canadian Eskimo Art, Gimpel Fils, London, England