Nayoumealook (attributed to)

1891–1958

Nayoumealook (1891–1958), also known as Conlucy Nayoumealook, lived at a camp near Inukjuak (Port Harrison), Nunavik, Quebec. He was both a hunter who lived off the land and a sculptor. The subjects of his carvings were a reflection of his lived experience and included birds, hunting activities, and hooded female figures.

In 1948, James Houston, a significant figure in the dissemination and popularization of Inuit art in the south, visited the Arctic for the first time. On this visit, Houston met Nayoumealook, and Nayoumealook gifted him a small carving of a caribou. This meeting was a pivotal moment for the beginning of the Inuit contemporary art period and established a longstanding connection between the pair and their families. Nayoumealook’s granddaughter Alicie Kasudluak Niviaxie is also an artist.

Nayoumealook’s carvings have been featured in exhibitions across Canada and are held in the permanent collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the New Brunswick Museum, St. Johns, among others.

Artworks

Nayoumealook (attributed to)
(1891)
(1958)