In 1946, Clair Fejes moved from New York City, where she had been exhibiting in the A.C.A. Gallery, to Fairbanks, Alaska. She ultimately became an artist in a pioneering community, and traveled to a Noatak hunting camp on the edge of the Kotzebue Sound, where she was irrevocably inspired by the people and landscape of the Tigara. Claire eloquently captures the life of the Inupiat in Northwest Alaska, before outside influences changed their lives. In a few simple strokes, her drawings evoke the heart and life of the Inupiat. Thanks in part to her habit of journal-keeping, Claire was able to record what she had witnessed in her years of travel and painting up the Yukon River into the Arctic Refuge. Originally published in 1966, People of the Noatak is an excellent portrayal of the Inupiat people before modern changes, a glimpse into the Inupiat world when traditional values and roots were strong.
The late Claire Fejes is considered to be one of Alaska's finest artists. She made a name for herself by traveling to the Arctic to paint Eskimo whaling camps, and to the Yukon River to paint Indian life. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in Europe, North America, and Asia. She also was a writer and was author of the northern best-seller, People of the Noatak.
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