Before I get into the plain and simple fact that THIS SHIT IS AMAZING – let me preface by saying that I found this treasure of history and art at my public library. That’s right. You remember those places don’t you? Where they have those things called BOOKS. I recommend both books and libraries.

Ok, so, I found this book on Eskimo printmaking and was shocked to found out that though Inuit sculpture is older than time, printmaking is a relatively new means of art for these people. In fact, it’s as late as 20th century – 1957 to be exact. Apparently a Canadian dude (James Houston) saw an Inuit man comparing logos on his cigarette boxes, showed him what a print was by rubbing ink on a tusk and transfering onto a piece of toilet paper (for real) whereby the Inuit man rightly said, “We can do that.” Amazing. And after the jump are just a few of the hardcore images that some of the wildest and toughest (kinda Canadian) people on Earth came up with:

This print above is called “Man Carying Reluctant Wife.” No joke.

And this is titled, “The Dying Man Becomes the Wolf.” Please, Jesus, let that happen to me. I so want to be a wolf.

And in all seriousness, I think these are beautiful and haunting and inspiring. I also find it kind of funny that a lot of the work we post here on Okay Great looks very similar in terms of the primitive line drawing and vivid color. Interesting, right?

I’ve also posted a few more images, with their incredible titles over on our Flickr page. Check it out!

Tags: Bourdain eating a seal on the floor, Eskimos, Primitive art, print design, printmaking