IN LESS THAN A DECADE, Dan and Martha Albrecht have put together the finest collection of Inuit art ever assembled--more than four thousand pieces, all of which they have donated to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. In Arctic Spirit, Canadian writer Ingo Hessel, the Albrechts' mentor and main advisor, presents the best of these works--nearly 200 sculptures, prints, drawings and fabrics, from prehistoric carvings to contemporary mixed media.

The book is arranged according to the major themes in Inuit art. More than half of the extensive text is in the words of the artists themselves.