Bear Paw Print Appraisal

Inuit Narrative Print within Bear Paw Motif

This item is a framed piece of contemporary Indigenous-style artwork, likely an offset lithograph or serigraph, featuring a distinctive story-within-a-symbol motif. The central composition is contained within the silhouette of a large black bear paw print. Inside the main pad of the paw, the artwork depicts a split perspective: the upper half shows an Inuit hunter with a staff trekking through a snowy tundra landscape under a starlit winter sky, while the lower half reveals a hibernation den with a brown bear curled up beneath the snow's surface. Below the paw, a detailed eagle feather is rendered at an angle. To the left side of the bear paw print, there is a visible artist signature that appears to read 'A. Bartko'. The piece is professionally matted using a triple-matting technique with grey, white, and dark blue layers featuring notched corners. It is housed in a polished wood-grain frame with a thin gold-toned inner lip. The style suggests a late 20th-century creation, possibly originating from the Pacific Northwest or Alaskan art markets. The colors remain vibrant with no apparent fading, though there is a significant glare on the protective glass surface. The paper substrate appears clean and white without visible foxing or yellowing, and the frame shows minimal wear to the edges.