Read our March 2021 newsletter, featuring three carvings by first generation master carver Osuitok Ipeelee and a discussion of the stones of Cape Dorset

Read our February 2021 newsletter, featuring a flock of bird prints

Read our January 2021 newsletter, featuring Pitseolak Ashoona's Festive Bird

Read our December 2020 newsletter, featuring a muscular bear by Henry Evaluardjuk

Global warming has profoundly transformed Arctic in just 15 years, report warns

Read our November 2020 newsletter, featuring early stencils by Niviaxiak and Kellypalik Mungitok

Read our October 2020 newsletter, featuring four prints by Kiakshuk

Read our July 2020 newsletter, featuring a masterwork by an under-appreciated Arctic Quebec carver, Thomassie Tookalook and suggestions for your Inuit art library

Read our June 2020 newsletter, featuring a collection of sednas.

Read our April 2020 newsletter, featuring the work of Qaqaq Ashoona, a first-generation master carver from Cape Dorset, and tips on reading Inuktitut signatures

Read our February 2020 newsletter, featuring a discussion of the challenges of identifying Inuit carvings illustrated by a Simon POV father-and-child

Read our November 2019 newsletter, featuring the ivory carvings of Savoonga artist Ike Kulowiyi

Read our October 2019 newsletter, featuring my commentary on a New York Times article discussing the role of art in the Inuit economy.

Read our September 2019 newsletter, featuring two dramatic heads by John Tiktak and John Kavik, two of Arviat's master carvers.

Read our July 2019 newsletter, featuring a classic print by Sheouak Petalaussie

Read our June 2019 newsletter, featuring works by Abraham Etungat and Sheokjuk Oqutaq 

Read our March 2019 newsletter, featuring a beautiful narwhal by Sheokjuk Oqutaq.

Read our December 2018 newsletter, featuring a monumental mother and child by Arviat master carver John Kavik.

Read our July 2018 newsletter, featuring two drawings by Qavavau Manomie.

Read our February 2018 newsletter, featuring a dramatic serigraph by Itee Pootoogook.

Read our December 2017 newsletter, featuring prints by Angotigolu Teevee and Sheokjuk Etidlooie.

Read our October 2017 newsletter, featuring the Lumiuk legend.

Click here to read our August 2017 Newsletter, featuring a classic Jessie Oonark print and discussing our relaunched website.

The gallery is no longer open for business at 1065 Madison Avenue.

We will be there irregularly from now until the end of September, but the bulk of our inventory has been packed and shipped.

We are in the process of rethinking our website. For the time being, we have left our curated exhibitions on display on the website, but most of these works are no longer available for purchase.  

When the website is relaunched, we will send out a newsletter. If you are not on our newsletter list and wish to be, please click on "Contact" and fill in the "Newsletter signup" form.

We are still happy to talk with you, consult on Inuit art, provide insurance appraisals, and answer questions.  

Click here to read our June 2016 Newsletter, which features an exquisite 19th century Haida carved and painted wooden shaman figure.

Click here to read our May 2016 newsletter, which features an appreciation of Victoria Mamnaguqsualuq's work. 

Click here to read our April 2016 Newsletter, which features a new exhibition, "One Collector's Vision:  Inuit Prints 1960-1996."  The exhibition comprises 21 prints from Cape Dorset, Baker Lake and Povungnituk, including some classic, much sought-after images.

Click here to read our March 2016 Newsletter, which features a collection of tupilaks and work by Abraham Anghik Ruben.

Our February 2016 Newsletter features works that use antler as a principal design element, and mourns the passing of Jutai Toonoo.  Click here to read the newsletter.

Click here to read our January 2016 newsletter, which features a wonderful 1950's hawk and a memorial to Tuna Iquliq.

Click here to read our December 2015 Newsletter, which features Inuit portraits.

On October 17, 2015, Alaska on Madison hosted Samaiyu Akesuk and Papiara Tukiki, two of the artists whose work is featured in the 2015 Cape Dorset Print Collection.  

  
Saimaiyu Akesuk was born on April 28, 1988 in Iqaluit but she has lived in Cape Dorset for almost her whole life. Her parents are Lau Akesuk and Olayuk Akesuk, who was one of the first Members of the Legislative Assembly in Nunavut. Samaiyu's grandfather, Latcheolassie Akesuk, was a distinguished early Cape Dorset sculptor. Saimaiyu was inspired to start drawing by Ningeokuluk Teevee while they were taking a class together at the Nunavut Teaching Education Program. Saimaiyu's confident drawings of birds and bears are characterized by her bold and dynamic simplicity rendered with soft tenderness and quite often a touch of whimsy.

  
Papiara Tukiki has been a delightful mainstay of the annual collection since her first prints were introduced in 2004. Papiara's simple forms capture the essence of her subject. In 1977 she received an Award of Excellence for her original design in the "Things That Make us Beautiful" competition organized by the Department of Indian and Northern Development. Born on Christmas Day, 1942, Papiara is married to Qopie Tukiki, a long-time employee of the community's Housing Association. They live in Cape Dorset.

On October 29 and 30, from 10 am - 6 pm each day (opening preview reception October 29, 6-8 pm), Alaska on Madison is hosting a preview for Walker's Auctions November 15 live auction.  In addition, Alaska on Madison is hosting a preview of ivory and whalebone works to be included in that auction.  The ivory and whalebone works will be on view during the gallery's regular hours from now until the auction (November 18).

About one-third of the works in the auction come from the renowned Albrecht Collection of Arctic Art, featured in the Arctic Spirit exhibit at the Heard Museum.  

Click here to read our September 2015 Newsletter, which features the opening of Whalebone Wonders, an exhibit of Inuit sculpture in whalebone.

Our August 2015 Newsletter introduces you to Whalebone Wonders,  an exhibition opening September 17.  This exhibit showcases three masterworks in whalebone - Revenge by Manasie Akpaliapik, Shaman Playing String Game by Nick Sikkuark, and Shaman Hunter by Augustin Anaittuq - and surrounds them with a number of smaller examples of Inuit artists' ingenious use of whalebone.

Our July Newsletter features a biography and selection of works by the legendary Pauta Saila, and updates on a collection of small ivories and our forthcoming exhibition of major whalebone pieces. 

Click here to read our June 2015 Newsletter, with information about current and future exhibitions.

Click here to read our May 2015 Newsletter, which has more information on the forthcoming Views from the North II exhibit and a discussion of Northwest Coast halibut hooks.

Click here to read our February 2015 Newsletter, which features a discussion of the prints in Thirty from the Sixties: The First Decade of Inuit Printmaking and the printing techniques used.  

Click here to read our January 2015 Newsletter,  featuring the opening reception for Thirty from the Sixties: The First Decade of Inuit Printmaking and a farewell to Kiugak (Kiawak) Ashoona.

Click here to read our December 2014 Newsletter, highlighting an online exhibit of loons and our forthcoming exhibit of Inuit Prints of the 1960s.

Our November 2014 newsletter features work by a young Haida jeweler, and a memorial to Ohotaq Mikkigak, who died recently.

Click here to read our October 2014 newsletter, which features a magnificent hundred-year-old Haida hat.

Read our August Newsletter, with more information on our forthcoming exhibit, Women of the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot.

Read our July Newsletter, which previews our fall exhibit, Women of the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot, among other things.

Visit us in Santa Fe August 19-20 at the Antique American Indian Art Show.  The show will feature thirty galleries that concentrate on exceptional pre-1950s Native American art.  It will be held in El Museo in the vibrant Railyard district of Santa Fe.

The opening gala is Tuesday, August 19 from 6-9 pm.

The show days are Wednesday, August 20 and Thursday, August 21 from 11 am-6 pm.

Inuit art lost another giant when Ovilu Tunnillie died in June.

Please call us (212 879 1782) or email us (alaskaonmadison@gmail.com) to order your 2015 Cape Dorset Calendar.

Our June Newsletter features new acquisitions, links to our ongoing online exhibitions, and information about a not-to-be-missed exhibit of Charles Edenshaw's wor

Click here to read our March-April newsletter, which features works by Henry Evaluardjuk. 

Itee Pootoogook, one of Cape Dorset's most promising graphic artists, died this week at age 63.  He pioneered drawings using colored pencil on black paper, creating subltle luminous effects.  His work is featured in the gallery's current exhibition Views from the North: Original Drawings from Cape Dorset.  Click here to read his obituary from Nunatsiaq News.

Views from the North:  Original Drawings from Cape Dorset has been extended to March 30, 2014.  Read about two exquisite wooden bowls.  Click here to read the full newsletter.

We have a selection of books that will enhance your appreciation of your collection. They include cornerstones like George Swinton's seminal "Sculpture of the Inuit," Leslie Boyd Ryan's comprehensive "Cape Dorset Prints: A Retrospective," Aldona Jonaitis' excellent survey "Art of the Northwest Coast," and Alan Wardwell's definitive "Ancient Eskimo Ivories of the Bering Strait." They also include a number of published collections and more specialized books. Click here for a list.

Our January Newsletter features a rare Bella Coola carpenter mask, and introduces a selection of books for a collector's library. Click here to read the January Newsletter.

Our December Newsletter introduces our upcoming exhibit, Views from the North:  Cape Dorset Drawings, and provides a link to a selection of works priced at $1000 or less.  Views from the North will open with a preview reception on January 9, 2014 from 6-8:30 pm, and will be on view until February 28, 2014.

Read our November newsletter at www.lesk.com/gallery/news-nov2013.html 

It features an extraordinary igloo scene by master carver Axangayu Shaa, and previews our upcoming exhibit of original drawings from Cape Dorset.  Views from the North: Drawings from Cape Dorset will present original one-of-a-kind drawings by established and emerging artists in the gallery January-February 2014.

This month marks the release of the 2013 Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection.    Cape Dorset is a community of about 1200 Inuit (Canadian Eskimo) that describes itself as the “Capital of Inuit Art.”  Every year since 1959, Cape Dorset has released a set of limited edition prints created by artists from the community.  Click here for purchase information.

Cape Dorset prints originated through serendipity. For more background and for information about the artists represented in this year's collection, read our blog . . .

Follow four men traversing the Northwest Passage in a rowboat from Inuvik, Northwest Territories to Pond Inlet, Nunavut (see map) to demonstrate the effects of global warming in the Arctic.  Their bulletins highlight the difficulty of survival in the Arctic, even with high-tech support.  http://www.vancouversun.com/lastfirst/index.html

Kenojuak: Eskimo Artist is a 20-minute film by the National Film Board of Canada that documents the creation of The Arrival of the Sun, one of Kenojuak Ashevak's seminal stonecut prints from 1961. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for documentary short subject.  

Kenojuak, who died earlier this year, was the first woman to be associated with the Cape Dorset print shop, and became one of the foremost Canadian graphic artists.  Her prints were included in every Cape Dorset print collection from 1959 (the first) through 2012 (the most recent).  She was internationally recognized, and received numerous honors.

The earliest graphics from Cape Dorset were either stonecut prints or stencils.  This film shows the process of creating Arrival of the Sun, starting with Kenojuak's sketch, which was then transferred to a stone block, which was then cut (by another artist, Lukta Qiatsuq) to remove the superfluous stone, and inked.  Fifty impressions were then made (in addition to a small number of artist's proofs).

The film also shows how Kenojuak's art was an integral part of her life.

Click here to watch the film.

We have Cape Dorset 2014 Calendars, which feature twelve prints by Kenojuak Ashevak (1927-2013), whose work was included in -- and became a mainstay of -- every annual print collection from Cape Dorset from 1959 through 2012. The prints in this calendar range from 1960's Hare Spirits to 2012's Red Fox.  

Click here to read our recent newsletter.

To read about Google Street View's experiences in Iqaluit, see

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/29/google-street-view-braves-canadian-arctic

To read a discussion of international security issues arising from global warming, see http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/opinion/preventing-an-arctic-cold-war.html?_r=0 .

Kenojuak Ashevak, diminutive in person but a giant in the art world, died in January. She was represented in the Cape Dorset print collections from the first, in 1959, through the last released during her lifetime, in 2012.  She continued to experiment with new media and techniques right up to the end, sharing her limitless imagination with the world.  Her obituary in the New York Times can be found at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E6DE1639F937A25752C0A9659D8B63 .

DECIPHERING INUKTITUT SIGNATURES

Baffled by those “anonymous” sculptures with lots of markings on the bottom?  We can help you can give them names.

How many times have you been frustrated by seeing an Inuit sculpture described as “anonymous” or “unknown artist,” accompanied by the notation “signed in syllabics”? You don’t have to understand Inuktitut in order to learn how to attribute many of your anonymous pieces. As with any language skill, it takes some practice, but the time is well spent if you are a serious collector of Inuit art. To help you, we have posted a search facility for Inuit art “signatures” on our website.

Click here for an explanation of Inuktitut syllabics and a link to the INUIT ARTIST SEARCH TOOL.