JOHNNY INUKPUK, INUIT, Composition: Igloo, Dog Team, and Walrus Hunter, c. mid 1970s
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Description
JOHNNY INUKPUK, R.C.A. (1911-2007) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON)
Composition: Igloo, Dog Team, and Walrus Hunter, c. mid 1970s
stone, 15.75 x 17 x 4.75 in (40 x 43.2 x 12.1 cm)
signed, "JOHNNY / INUKPUK".
Provenance
Private Collection, Montreal;
by descent to the Present Private Collection, Montreal.
Johnny Inukpuk was a dominant force in Inukjuak sculpture, and his works inspired and influenced an entire generation of artists. His fabulous works from the 1950s and 1960s show his tremendous skill as a sculptor and his keen sense of observation (see Lot 136). This marvelous sculpture, likely from the mid 1970s, reveals an unexpected experimental side to Inukpuk’s imagination. With this Composition the artist eschews his preferred subjects of Inuit hunters or variations on the mother and child theme, for which he is best known, in favour of an imaginary tableau of Inuit camp life. In this visually complex work, Inukpuk combines bas relief and a surprising amount of negative space to document traditional life on land and at sea. We love how the artist depicted each activity on its own stratum layered atop the igloo. This is the most atypical Johnny Inukpuk sculpture we have ever seen; it makes us wish he had continued in a more experimental vein in his later years.
References: So far as we know, the composition of this sculpture is unique in Johnny Inukpuk’s oeuvre. Interestingly, an artist who did favour a similar compositional device was the famous Puvirnituq sculptor Davidialuk Alasua Amittu. We are thinking specifically of his “Northern Lights” scenes; see for example George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 367, p. 171.
Composition: Igloo, Dog Team, and Walrus Hunter, c. mid 1970s
stone, 15.75 x 17 x 4.75 in (40 x 43.2 x 12.1 cm)
signed, "JOHNNY / INUKPUK".
Provenance
Private Collection, Montreal;
by descent to the Present Private Collection, Montreal.
Johnny Inukpuk was a dominant force in Inukjuak sculpture, and his works inspired and influenced an entire generation of artists. His fabulous works from the 1950s and 1960s show his tremendous skill as a sculptor and his keen sense of observation (see Lot 136). This marvelous sculpture, likely from the mid 1970s, reveals an unexpected experimental side to Inukpuk’s imagination. With this Composition the artist eschews his preferred subjects of Inuit hunters or variations on the mother and child theme, for which he is best known, in favour of an imaginary tableau of Inuit camp life. In this visually complex work, Inukpuk combines bas relief and a surprising amount of negative space to document traditional life on land and at sea. We love how the artist depicted each activity on its own stratum layered atop the igloo. This is the most atypical Johnny Inukpuk sculpture we have ever seen; it makes us wish he had continued in a more experimental vein in his later years.
References: So far as we know, the composition of this sculpture is unique in Johnny Inukpuk’s oeuvre. Interestingly, an artist who did favour a similar compositional device was the famous Puvirnituq sculptor Davidialuk Alasua Amittu. We are thinking specifically of his “Northern Lights” scenes; see for example George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 367, p. 171.
Condition
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NOTE
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NOTE
Many countries prohibit or restrict importation or exportation of property containing ivory, whale bone, sealskin, and/or products derived from other endangered or protected species, and require special licenses or permits in order to import or export such property. It is the responsibility of the buyer to ensure that the item is properly and lawfully exported / imported.
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JOHNNY INUKPUK, INUIT, Composition: Igloo, Dog Team, and Walrus Hunter, c. mid 1970s
Estimate CA$4,000 - CA$6,000
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