83. Loon (c.1996)

Osuitok grew up traditionally on the land and learned to carve by watching his father, Ohotok. He sold his first ivory carving in the 1940s and was already highly regarded for his artistry by the time that James Houston arrived in 1951. Osuitok participated in the introduction of the printmaking program in the late 1950s and his work was in the “Sculpture/Inuit. Sculpture of the Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic” show (1971-73) that toured the world. His sculptures gradually became more stylized and minimal; by the late 1980s, his austere renderings of caribou were more symbol than depiction.