Imposed Migration

Pudlo was an important artist, the first (and to date, the only) Inuit artist to be given a retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada, in 1989. His 1976 lithograph, Aeroplane, was the first Inuit print to depict modern technologies, and it was later featured on a Canadian postage stamp. Pudlo returned to this theme on a number of occasions—and added helicopters, ships, power cables, and so forth. This is a strong and engaging example of this strand of his work, and invites comparison with the Papua New Guinean artist Kauage's helicopter and aeroplane imagery. This acquisition was presented by the Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.