The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Devil Fish

Devil Fish

1972
(Inuit, Ulukhaktok, [formerly Holman], village, Northwest Territories, Canada, 1928–1998)
Overall: 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 Basket Rotation (Native North America rotation). 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=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.1054