Description
1984 print: “Sleeping Fisherman by Helen Kalvak” from Holman/Ulukhaktok. Helen Kalvak (1901-1984) was an Inuinnait graphic artist from Ulukhaktok, NWT.
She was born at Tahiryuak Lake, Victoria Island. She was raised in the Prince Albert Sound area, married, and lived a traditional Inuit lifestyle until the sudden death of her husband in 1960.
Kalvak then moved to Ulukhaktok (formerly Holman), and the following year, at the age of 60, helped establish the Holman Eskimo Co-operative and began to create her distinctive works of art. Through her art, she chronicled the traditional lives of the Inuinnait, as well as Inuit oral histories.
Between 1965 and 1985, 154 of her drawings were made into prints included in the annual Holman Island print releases, the largest body of published work by an Ulukhaktok artist. Her work is found in many prominent public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Museum of History and Winnipeg Art Gallery.
A prolific artist, she produced more than 3,000 drawings, many made into prints and sold internationally. Decorated with traditional beautifying facial tattoos, Kalvak was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1975 and made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1978. Kalvak’s drawing, The Dance, was made into a Canada Post stamp in 1981.
“Kalvak’s childhood training as a shaman informed the artwork she made in her old age… More than most Inuit graphics, her work depicts women in the roles of healer, sorcerer, and transformational figure.” (Janet Catherine Berlo)
Biography Helen Kalvak
BIOGRAPHY HELEN KALVAK
Helen Kalvak, C.M., R.C.A.
Settlement: Holman / Ulukhaktok
(1901-1984) — W2-423
Exhibitions
4th National Burnaby Print Show
Burnaby Art Society
50 Inuit Prints
Canadian Arctic Producers in coordination with the Hudson’s Bay Company Inuit Art Marketing Service, held at Simpson’s
A Woman’s Vision
Art Space Gallery
Arctic Mirror
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Arctic Spirit 35 Years of Canadian Inuit Art
Frye Art Museum
Arctic Values ’65
New Brunswick Museum with the cooperation of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs
Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers
Bears of the North
Snow Goose Associates
Bering Sea to Baffin Bay
The Arctic Circle
Borealis: Inuit Images of Man and Animals
Freeport Art Museum and Cultural Centre
Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art from the Collection
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative exhibition from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Philip Gray
Fine Arts Gallery, Montana State University
Canadian Eskimo Arts Festival
Alaska Methodist University Galleries
Canadian/Indian and Eskimo Arts and Crafts
The Snow Goose
Chisel and Brush/Le ciseau et la brosse
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, presented at the General Assembly Building, United Nations
Contemporary Inuit Art
National Gallery of Canada
Contemporary Inuit Drawings
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Contemporary Inuit Drawings
Muscarelle Museum of Art College of William and Mary
Demons and Spirits and those who wrestled with them
The Arctic Circle
Die Kunst aus der Arktis
Inuit Galerie, Mannheim held at Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institute, University of Siegen at Villa Waldrich
Die Kunst aus der Arktis
presented by Inuit Galerie
Eskimo Games: Graphics and Sculpture/ Giuochi Eschimesi: grafiche e sculture
National Gallery of Modern Art
Eskimo Narrative
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Eskimo Sculpture, Eskimo Prints and Paintings of Norval Morrisseau
Art Association of Newport
Eskimo Sculptures and Prints including a collection of Carvings by Osowetokla
Hartford National Bank
Festival of Birds
The Arctic Circle
Graphic Art by Eskimos of Canada: First Collection
Cultural Affairs Division, Department of External Affairs, Canada
Helen Kalvak – Print Retrospective
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Helen Kalvak Drawings
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Holman Prints *65
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *66
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *67
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *68
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *69
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *70
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *72
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *73
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *74
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *75/76
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *77
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *79
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *80/81
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *82
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *83
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *84
(annual collection)
Holman Prints *85
(annual collection)
Hunter of the Sacred Game: Traditional Life on the Land
Organized by the Arts and Learning Services Foundation
Hunters of Old
Inukshuk Galleries Inc.
Hunting in the Arctic
Alberta Provincial Museum and Archives
Im Schatten der Sonne: Zeitgenossische Kunst der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada/In the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Inuit Art From the Glenbow Collection
Glenbow Museum
Inuit Art on the Mezzanine: New Acquisitions
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Inuit Art: A Selection of Inuit Art from the Collection of the National Museum of Man, Ottawa, and the Rothmans Permanent Collection of Inuit Sculpture, Canada
National Museum of Man, Ottawa and Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Ltd.
Inuit Games and Contests: The Clifford E. Lee Collection of Prints
University of Alberta
Inuit Games/Inuit Pinguangit/Jeux des inuit
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Inuit Graphic Art from Indian & Northern Affairs Canada
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Inuit Graphics and Drawings from 1959-1990
Arctic Artistry
Inuit Graphics from the Past
Arctic Artistry
Inuit Graphics Through the Year: Rare Prints from the Arctic
Arctic Artistry
Inuit Images in Transition
Augusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts
Inuit Myths, Legends and Songs
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Inuit Survival
Enook Galleries, Waterloo, Ontario Presented at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery
Inuit Traditions in Graphics: 1961-1987
Arctic Artistry
Inuit Woman: Life and Legend in Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Inuit Women and their Art: Graphics and Wallhangings
Gallery 210, University of Missouri
Inuitkonst fran Kanada – skulptor och grafik
Millesgarden
Kalvak & Nanogak
Albers Gallery
Kalvak – Nanogak Drawings
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Kalvak Retrospective
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel
Burnaby Art Gallery
Patiently I Sing Selections from the Tyler/Brooks Collection
Carleton University Art Gallery
Polar Vision: Canadian Eskimo Graphics
Jerusalem Artists’ House Museum
Rare Eskimo Prints from Holman Island: a Review 1965-1973
The Arctic Circle
Shamans and Spirits: Myths and Medical Symbolism in Eskimo Art
Canadian Arctic Producers and the National Museum of Man
Shamans and Spirits: Myths and Medical Symbolism in Eskimo Art
Arts and Learning Services Foundation (this is a duplicate of the C.A.P. and National Museum of Man exhibition of 1976-1981)
Stones, Bones, Cloth, and Paper: Inuit Art in Edmonton Collections
Edmonton Art Gallery
The Arctic/L’Artique
UNESCO
The Art of Eskimo Women: in Sculpture, Prints, Wall-hangings
The Arctic Circle
The Coming and Going of the Shaman: Eskimo Shamanism and Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Eskimo Art Collection of the Toronto-Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion Bank
The Eskimo Woman: her life and dreams in prints and sculpture
The Arctic Circle
The Graphic Art of Helen Kalvak, R.C.A., 1965-1985
Albers Gallery of Inuit Art
The Inuit Amautik: I Like My Hood To Be Full
Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Inuit Print/L’estampe inuit
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the National Museum of Man
The Jacqui and Morris Shumiatcher Collection of Inuit Art
Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina
The Matriarchs: Jessie Oonark, Helen Kalvak, Pitseolak Ashoona
Snow Goose Associates
The Moveable Feast
Arts and Learning Services Foundation
The Murray and Marguerite Vaughan Inuit Print Collection
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
The Oral Tradition
National Museum of Man
The Prints Never Seen: Holman, 1977-1987
Albers Gallery of Inuit Art
The Story Tellers of Holman Island: A retrospective exhibition of rare stonecut prints from 1968 – 1979
The Arctic Circle
The Year of the Bear
The Arctic Circle
Transformation
The Arctic Circle
Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Visions of Rare Spirit: 20 Years of Holman Prints
Port Colborne Library
Women Who Draw: 30 Years of Graphic Art from the Canadian Arctic
Feheley Fine Arts
Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection of Inuit Art
Canadian Guild of Craft Quebec
Public Collections
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art
Fort Worth
Anchorage Museum of History and Art
Anchorage
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Fredericton
Canada Council Art Bank
Ottawa
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Montreal
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Hull
Clifford E. Lee Collection, University of Alberta
Edmonton
Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College
Traverse City
Department of Foreign Affairs
Ottawa
Edmonton Art Gallery
Edmonton
Glenbow Museum
Calgary
Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University
Bristol
Inuit Cultural Institute
Rankin Inlet
Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre
Sudbury
McMaster University Art Gallery
Hamilton
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg
Mendel Art Gallery
Saskatoon
Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal
Montreal
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia
Vancouver
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa
Petro-Canada Collection
Calgary
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
Yellowknife
Smith College Museum of Art
Northampton
University of Alberta
Edmonton
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg
