Arnak Iloovigamituk

Best known for his extensive contributions as a printmaker to numerous Annual Cape Dorset Print Collections, artist Eegyvudluk Pootoogook was also an accomplished sculptor creating stylized and realistic work with fine detail. Pootoogook began his career as an artist selling small sculptures to passengers on the Hudson Bay Company supply ship RMS Nascopie. In 1960, he was convinced by his brother Kananginak Pootoogook to move to Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, to work in the print shop at the newly formed West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. He was one of four original stonecut printmakers at the studio to learn printmaking techniques from Japanese master artist UnâÀ™ichi Hiratsuka in 1958. During his career, Pootoogook produced 170 prints and contributed to 21 of the Annual Cape Dorset Print Collections. His work is in the collections of major museums around the world, including the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, QC, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Tate Gallery in London, UK, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.