Pudlo Pudlat

Pudlo Pudlat, Journey into Fantasy, 50/50, 1983

A classic print by Pudlo, combining themes from traditional life and modern technology in a fantasy world. Pudlo's prints frequently incorporated airplanes and other non-traditional images. They also frequently played with the scale of the images, juxtaposing, for example, small boats and oversize loons. Here, the airplane is loaded onto a komatik (sled), which is being pulled by another airplane. The other komatiks contain umiaks, and appear to be pulled by seals harnessed to the komatiks. All of this stonecut detail occurs in a fantasy landscape, with a stenciled image of colored mountains.

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Pudlo Pudlat, Raven with Fish, 44/50, 1963

18 x 24 in.

This raven’s wacky plumage and wild eyes might almost have been designed by Lucy Qinnuayuak, but her birds never have the predatory look of this avian creature. The raven’s teeth would be incongruous if we didn’t remember that we are looking at a creation by Pudlo! This print was released in the same year as Pudlo’s Eagle Carrying Man, an image that is rather less graphic (and, astonishingly, the same year as Running Rabbit, see lot 7). A review of a few graphite drawings by Pudlo from c. 1961-62 indicates more subjects if not “red in tooth and claw” at least well armed with teeth and claws (see reference). Having said that, in the end Raven with Fish is still more comical than unsettling – it begs a “Pudlovian” response from us the viewers: a smile. References: For three graphite drawings from c. 1961-62 see Marie Routledge and Marion Jackson, Pudlo: Thirty Years of Drawing (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1990), cats. 10-12. This catalogue accompanied the National Gallery’s first-ever solo exhibition of an Indigenous Canadian artist.

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