LUCY QINNUAYUAK (1915-1982) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Owl at Day Break, 1982 #24
Printmaker: EEGYVUDLUK POOTOOGOOK (1931-1999) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
stonecut and stencil, 23 x 27 in (58.4 x 68.6 cm), framed, sight.
1/50

Provenance
Private Collection, Ottawa

Featured on the cover of the 1982 Cape Dorset print catalogue, Owl at Day Break is one of Lucy Qinnuayuak’s most famous print images. The scratchy texture of the owl’s plumage undulates softly through its body, then heads off at jaunty angles to form the more clearly defined feathers of wings and tail. The vibrant main body of the owl stands out sharply against the feathers. One gets the impression that this owl is welcoming the morning sun, warm in comparison to the chilly night that preceded it. Like so many of Lucy’s birds, this owl is slightly ungainly and ever so charming.

References: This image is reproduced on the cover of the 1982 Cape Dorset Annual Graphics Catalogue. See the section on the artist in Odette Leroux, ed, Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset, (Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994), pp. 71-91. It is interesting to compare Owl at Day Break with another print by Qinnuayuak from the 1982 collection, A Display of Feathers (also illustrated in Inuit Women Artists); although she drew many hundreds (perhaps thousands) of birds, each one truly has its own personality. The 1982 Cape Dorset catalogue memorialized the beloved artist and included a dozen stonecut and stencil prints and two lithographs by “Lucy.”