The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 21, 2025
Devil Fish
1972
(Inuit, Ulukhaktok, [formerly Holman], village, Northwest Territories, Canada, 1928–1998)
Image and Sheet: 50.8 x 76.2 cm (20 x 30 in.)
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
This artist devoted his work to depicting Inuit traditions that were fast disappearing in the Arctic.Description
Alec (Peter) Aliknak Banksland devoted himself to depicting traditional Inuit ways of life at a time when they were fast disappearing in the Arctic. In the winter fishing scene shown here, he whimsically captures the high point of the hunt as the fisherman peers at his open-mouthed prey through a hole in the ice. Aliknak was a founding member of the Holman Printmaking Cooperative, established in 1961 to provide artists with a means of recording their past and earn income as the Canadian government forced the Inuit off the land and into European-style settlements.- Purchased from The Indian Mill.
- Native North America. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 4, 2021-December 4, 2022).
- {{cite web|title=Devil Fish|url=false|author=Alec (Peter) Aliknak Banksland|year=1972|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.1054