Anna Noeh (1926 – 2016)
Title: Hunters in Cumberland Sound
Date: 76 (1976)
Date: 76 (1976)
Medium: mixed media on board
Size: 10” x 12” (17 ⅜” x 19 ⅜” framed)
Signed: Front lower right, dated “76”.
Signed: Front lower right, dated “76”.
Price: $895.00 CAD
About Hunters in Cumberland Sound:
This exceptional 1972 work by Anna Noeh provides a vital, firsthand look into the enduring relationship between Inuit hunters and the volatile Arctic environment. Moving away from her frequently seen, localized portraits of individuals, this expansive composition frames two figures working in seamless harmony to steer a traditional boat through an obstacle course of fractured pack ice.
Closer visual inspection reveals Noeh’s masterful use of mixed media technique; she handles the vast Arctic elements by layering media over a painted fluid base. The sky and rocky mountainside are built up with fine, overlapping hatching marks that catch the light, adding a tactile dimension that beautifully mimics the crisp, frost-laden northern atmosphere.
The absolute authenticity of the piece is fully confirmed by the reverse side of the board, which features the artist’s own handwriting identifying the scene as Hunters in Cumberland Sound, alongside her distinctive signature. Housed in its original frame featuring a textured fabric liner and an elegant wood profile, this painting stands in beautiful, collector-grade condition as a premiere acquisition for collections of historical Canadian art.
Artist Biography
Anna Noeh (1926–2016) was a prominent Canadian Postwar & Contemporary painter celebrated for her deeply empathetic and highly accurate depictions of Inuit daily life in the Canadian Arctic. Born in Hungary, she completed formal training at the prestigious Academy of Applied Arts in Budapest (1952–1956). Following the Hungarian Revolution, she earned a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna before permanently immigrating to Montreal, Quebec in 1957.
In Canada, Noeh developed a profound fascination with the culture and landscapes of the Far North. Beginning in 1970, she undertook nearly a dozen extensive, self-funded sketching expeditions to remote northern territories. Immersing herself in local life, she spent weeks documenting the everyday realities of communities around Pangnirtung and the historic waters of Cumberland Sound. This direct exposure allowed her to capture northern traditions with a level of respect and perfection that has led art historians and curators to classify her output as significant “anthropological art pieces”. Today, Noeh’s masterful contributions to Canadian art heritage are held in numerous elite private collections and have been showcased at major institutions, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
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