Pitaloosie Saila 1942 - 2021

Pitaloosie was born in 1942 on the southwest coast of Baffin Island near what is now the community of Cape Dorset. She spent her childhood years in various hospitals in Quebec and Ontario for treatment of tuberculosis. She learned English during this time, and recalls the difficulty she experienced in relearning her native language upon her return to Baffin Island in 1957. She is now one of the few of her generation who speak both English and Inuktitut fluently.

Pitaloosie began drawing in the early 1960’s, and quickly established herself as a versatile and intelligent graphic artist. Pitaloosie has treated a wide range of themes and has developed personal styles that range from pure realism to formal/abstract, and that include compositions blending both styles. She tends to stylize and to reduce to the essential, the shape of a single subject. Powerful compositions are the result. Some of Pitaloosie’s works are uniquely striking for their unconventional style, their modernist approach and their intelligent use of color and texture. Like other Cape Dorset artists, Pitaloosie uses her art to express her concerns and to be, in her own way, a chronicler of the traditional Inuit way of life. Over the years, she has become a familiar presence in the Kinngait Studios, and her work has been included in annual print collections since 1968.

Since the late 1960’s Pitalossie has made frequent trips to southern Canada to attend exhibitions and conferences. In 1967, she spent several weeks in Toronto while her husband, the well know sculptor Pauta Saila, participated in an International Sculpture Symposium. Subsequently, she has visited Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Kansas City and Vermont. Her work has been featured in solo drawing exhibitions, and in 1977, Canada Post issued a stamp depicting her print, Fisherman’s Dream. Her 1985 lithograph entitled In the Hills represented the Northwest Territories in the centennial celebration of the National Parks of Canada. Amnesty International, the international human rights organization, selected a drawing by Pitaloosie entitled Mother and Child to use for their 1990 Christmas card. She was also one of nine featured artists in the acclaimed exhibition Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, which opened at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in the fall of 1994 and continues to travel to other venues.

Pitaloosie’s husband, Pauta, passed away in Cape Dorset in June of 2009 at the age of 93. In 2004, both she and Pauta were appointed members of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts, in recognition of their life’s work and contributions to Canadian art.

Born on August 11, 1942 in resides in Kinngait, NU. Nationality is Inuit

Exhibitions

2019 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection, Dorset Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2018 Cape Dorset Graphics Collection, Dorset Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2017 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2014 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2013 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2012 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2011 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2010 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2009 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2008 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2007 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2006 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2005 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2004 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2003 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2002 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2001 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
2000 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1998 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1997 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1996 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1994 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1993-1994 Contemporary Inuit Drawings, Muscarelle Museum of Art, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (illustrated catalogue)
1993 PRINT EXHIBITION Pitaloosie Saila, Pitseolak Ashoona, Pudlo Pudlat, Gallery Indigena, Waterloo, ON
1992 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Montador, Dieppe, France
1992 Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC (illustrated catalogue)
1991-1992 In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, ON (illustrated catalogue)
1992 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Humbert, Nantes, France
1991 Estampes Inuit: Trois Graveurs de Cape Dorset, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Musepict, Marseille, France
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Le Theatre, La Ciotat, France
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Palais L’Europe, Le Touquet, France
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux, L’Isle sur la Sorgue, France
1991 Mother and Child: Sculpture and Prints, Albers Gallery, San Francisco, CA (illustrated brochure)
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At La Halle aux Bles, Saint Malo, France
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Ombre et Lumiere, Ensisheim, France
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France
1991 Glaciopolis: Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Maison de Pesey, Les Arcs, France
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Akenaton, Troyes, France
1991 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Galerie Maite Aubert, Le Havre, France
1991 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, At Le Colombier, Ville D’Avray, France
1991 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1990 Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, At Centre d’Action Culturelle du Bassin, Houllier, Lorrain, Saint Avold, France
1990 Arctic Mirror, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, PQ
1990 Art Inuit, l’Art des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Maison Falleur, Cambrai, France
1990 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Palais L’Europe, Le Touquet, France
1990 Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959 – 1990, Arctic Artistry, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
1990 Art Inuit, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Thonon des Bains, France
1990 Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France
1990 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1989 Images of the Far North, Arctic Artistry, (held at the Erie County Fairgrounds), Hartsdale, NY
1989 Cape Dorset Women Artists, Kenojuak, Pitaloosie and Lucy, Gallery Indigena, Stratford, ON
1989 Mother and Child: Selections from the Inuit Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
1989 Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimau du Canada, Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai At Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon, France
1989 Inuit Graphic Art from Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1989–1991 Flight of Fancy – Kenojuak Ashevak, Lucy Qinnuayuak, Pitaloosie Saila, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON (tour) (illustrated brochure)
1988 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1987-1988 Im Schatten der Sonne: Zeitgenossische Kunst der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada/In the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, PQ (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
1987 The Lindsay and Swartz Collections: New Acquisitions, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, MB
1987 Inuit Graphics from the Past, Arctic Artistry, Scarsdale, NY
1987 Eskimo Art, Franz Bader Gallery, Washington, DC
1987 Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961 – 1987, Arctic Artistry, Hartsdale, NY
1987 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1986 Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC (illustrated catalogue)
1986 The Ancestors/Links Between Worlds, Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN (illustrated brochure)
1986 Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare Prints from the Arctic, Arctic Artistry, Scarsdale, NY
1986 Cape Dorset Prints and Sculpture, McMaster Art Gallery, Hamilton, ON
1986 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1985 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1984-1986 Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers, Ottawa, ON (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
1984-1985 The Last and First Eskimos, Museum of Science and History, Fort Worth, TX
1984 On the Land, The Arctic Circle Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1984 Images of the Far North, Studio Art Gallery, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY
1984 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1983-1985 Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
1983 Return of the Birds, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC (illustrated catalogue)
1983 The Way We Were – Traditional Eskimo Life, Snow Goose Gallery, Seattle, WA
1983 The Cape Dorset Print, Presented at Rideau Hall by Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada, Ottawa, ON
1982 Break-up and Freeze-up, The Arctic Circle Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (catalogue)
1981-1983 Cape Dorset Engravings, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, circulated by the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON (tour) (illustrated brochure)
1981 Transformation, The Arctic Circle Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (illustrated brochure)
1981 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1980 The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON (illustrated catalogue)
1980 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1979-1981 Images of the Inuit: from the Simon Fraser Collection, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
1978 Cape Dorset Lithographs 1978, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto, ON
1978 Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics, Jerusalem Artists’ House Museum, Jerusalem, Israel (illustrated catalogue)
1978 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1977-1982 The Inuit Print/L’estampe inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the National Museum of Man, Ottawa, ON (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
1977 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1975–1979 We Lived by Animals/Nous Vivions des Animaux, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in cooperation with the Department of External Affairs, Canada, Ottawa, ON (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
1975-1977 Inuit Games/InuitPinguangit/Jeux des inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, ON (tour) (illustrated brochure)
1975 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1974 Eskimo Art, Queen’s University, Flushing, NY (illustrated catalogue)
1974 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1973 Canadian Eskimo Lithographs: Third Collection, Presented under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of External Affairs, Canada, Ottawa, ON (tour) (illustrated catalogue)
1973 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1972 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1971 The Art of the Eskimo, Simon Fraser Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC (catalogue)
1971 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1970 Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival, Alaska Methodist University Galleries, Anchorage, AK (illustrated catalogue)
1970 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1969 Eskimo Art, Robertson Galleries, Ottawa, ON
1969 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1968 Cape Dorset Graphics (annual collection) (illustrated catalogue)
1961 Contemporary Canadian Eskimo Art, Gimpel Fils, London, England (illustrated catalogue)