INUIT EXAMPLES
On May 16 Walker’s Auctions will offer 300 Inuit and First Nations works of art.
On May 16 Walker’s Auctions will offer 300 Inuit and First Nations works of art.
At Ottawa, Ontario-based Walker’s Auctions’ Inuit and First Nations art auction on May 16, approximately 300 examples of historic and contemporary North American Native art in a variety of mediums will be available.
“The term contemporary is a moving target when it comes to these kinds of works,” Ingo Hessel, Walker’s head of Inuit and First Nations Art, explains. “It really depends on the community, because the modern style didn’t begin across the Canadian Arctic all at the same time. It began in Arctic Quebec in the late 1950s and spread throughout the rest of Canada throughout the ’60s. So what is considered an early piece depends on the community.”
A Karoo Ashevak whalebone figure, from 1972 to 1973, is expected to bring in USD$28,000 to USD$40,000. Ashevak came from the Central Arctic, one of the last places to begin carving in the late 1960s and early ’70s, so the sculpture is a relatively early example for the region. “He’s considered to be one of the most inventive and imaginative Inuit sculptors,” Hessel says. “His sculptures sparked quite a flurry of interest when they first appeared, but Ashevak died in a house fire in 1975, so his career was short but spectacular.”
A large Jessie Oonark wall hanging is estimated at USD$48,000 to USD$64,000. Famous for her hangings, Oonark’s work is marked by vibrant colors, symmetry and layering of the composition. She often did not stick to rectangular pieces of cloth, and this particular work has a distinct double-igloo shape.
Joe Talirunili’s Boat with Hunter and Dogs is a unique example of the artist’s prized boat sculptures, estimated at USD$48,000 to USD$64,000. His boats are based on personal stories of disasters at sea, and is unusual because of the juxtaposition of humans and animals.
Other works crossing the block include a circa 1900 canoe sculpture by an unidentified Haida artist, estimated at USD$8,000 to USD$12,000, and Anishinaabe painter Norval Morrisseau’s Legendary Animals, which is expected to fetch USD$4,000 to USD$6,400.