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Introducing Our SPRING 2026 Live Auction
of Inuit & First Nations Art
First Arts is delighted to present our Spring 2026 Live Auction.
Bringing together just over 100 remarkable historic and contemporary First Nations and Inuit works of art, the sale offers a strong survey of Indigenous art across regions, materials, and generations. From carving and graphic work to textiles and beyond, the works assembled here show a striking range of approach, united by their formal power, material sensitivity, and distinctive presence. The offering is further enriched by a number of important works with notable provenance and exhibition history.
We are confident that collectors of many interests will find much here to admire and pursue. It is always a privilege to present these works for sale and, however briefly, to act as their stewards before they move on to new homes.
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Highlights from this Upcoming Auction
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PREVIEWS & SALE TO BE HELD AT
Location
Preview Dates
Preview Hours
550 Queen Street East
Friday, May 29
12:00 PM (noon)- 5:00 PM
Suite 300
Saturday, May 30
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Toronto, Ontario, M5A 1V2 Sunday, May 31
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Buzzer: #0300
Monday, June 1
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Get Directions or by appointment
In addition to our public previews, our experts are also happy to show lots, answer your questions, and provide virtual consultations by video call. Our team can also provide thorough and comprehensive condition reports, additional images, and videos. We encourage your inquiries at info@firstarts.ca or 647-286-5012.
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- Graphic works are unframed, unless otherwise indicated.
- Please read our conditions of sale and the sale particulars carefully before placing any bid on a lot. By registering to bid and/or by bidding at auction, you agree to these terms and conditions and they will become contractually binding to you. Please ensure that you have understood all charges, fees, and taxes that may be applied to your bid price before place your bid.
- Pick up of purchases are available by appointment only from our office at 550 Queen Street East, Suite 300.
- First Arts Premiers Inc. will not undertake packing or shipping of lots purchased at auction. The purchaser must designate and arrange for the services of an independent shipper and be responsible for all shipping and insurance expenses. First Arts Premiers Inc. will, upon request, provide names of professional packers and shippers but will not be held responsible for the service or have any liability for providing this information. Reliable pre-auction estimates of shipping costs of lots offered in this sale may be obtained from:
PakShip | 905-470-6874 | inquiry@pakship.ca
Safer Shipping | 416-299-3367 | perry@safershipping.ca
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Our Team
![Lot 14 PAUTA SAILA, R.C.A. (1916-2009) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET) Dancing Polar Bear, early-mid 1970s stone and antler, 20 x 16.5 x 7 in (50.8 x 41.9 x 17.8 cm) signed, "ᐸᐅᑕ". ESTIMATE: $30,000 — $50,000 It is natural that people may have assumed that the strongest works from the Collection of John and Joyce Price were behind us. This Pauta should put that notion to rest. Once in the Klamer Family Collection and later acquired by John and Joyce Price, this Dancing Polar Bear has now been in two of the most formidable private collections of Inuit art. Its return to auction is, therefore, no ordinary reappearance but signals the arrival of a work with a distinguished collecting history, now poised to begin its third chapter. There is, perhaps, no other artist so closely associated with the polar bear as Pauta. Though he produced works of many different subjects, in both two and three dimensions, his lifelong engagement with the polar bear allowed him to explore it with unmatched familiarity, freedom, and force. Though the origins of the term “dancing bear” remain somewhat obscure, it may well be tied to the example presented to Canada House in London in 1967 as a Centennial gift from members of the Canadian Women’s Club in London. Meant for permanent display, the sculpture was warmly praised by then High Commissioner Charles Ritchie as a “magnificent expression of wit and genius,” and was said to deserve “an honored place in Canada House” [1]. Though the present work was made some years later, the description “a magnificent expression of wit and genius” remains entirely apt. To our eye, few other works show more clearly why Pauta’s dancing bears became canonical in Canadian art. The form of this fellow is radically economical, yet nothing feels abbreviated. Each element has been pared down and amplified at once, so that the bear reads instantly and monumentally. What one relishes most in Pauta’s finest dancing bears is present here in abundance. First, there is the sheer triumph of balance. The animal has all the bodily force one would expect, yet Pauta coaxes the bear into a pose that ought to topple: the body pitched upward, the weight thrown onto a single leg, the other lifted high, and resolves it all with complete assurance. Just as impressive is that this dancing bear is fully persuasive from every side. There is no secondary or merely functional view. As one moves around it, the broad planes of the deep honey-brown Markham Bay stone catch and hold light differently, and the asymmetry of the pose keeps the composition alive. Never fixed, never inert. Pauta once remarked to Bernadette Driscoll, “At times I feel like keeping some of my carvings. In fact, I have even said good-bye to some [2].” We know intimately just what he meant. As this work moves on to its third generation of collectors, it will be one we bid farewell to with real reluctance and, ideally, one last pet. 1. The Canadian Press story enjoyed wide national circulation, appearing in no fewer than 25 newspapers, among them the Calgary Herald (8 July 1967), Edmonton Journal (8 July 1967), The Ottawa Citizen (10 July 1967), The Toronto Star (11 July 1967), and The Vancouver Sun (11 July 1967). 2. Pauta Saila to Bernadette Driscoll, in Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1985), p. 46 References: An early and stylistically somewhat “dancing” bear, to our eye is Pauta’s Bear, 1962, which is illustrated in Bernadette Driscoll, Uumajut: Animal Imagery in Inuit Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1985), p. 125, cat. no. 132. ND](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/14_1.jpg)
![Lot 23 GUUD SANS GLANS ROBERT DAVIDSON, O.C., O.B.C., (1946-) HAIDA, MASSET / WHITE ROCK Zippo Lighter with Dogfish Design, 1973 carved and engraved sterling silver Zippo ™ lighter, 2.25 x 1.5 x 0.75 in (5.7 x 3.8 x 1.9 cm) signed and dated, "Davidson / 73"; with "Zippo" and "STERLING" manufacturer's stamp. ESTIMATE: $12,000 — $18,000 Robert Davidson is arguably the most prominent living Canadian artist, Indigenous or otherwise, working today. A member of both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, Davidson has consistently promoted and innovated Haida art in Indigenous communities and on the world stage for the last 60 years. Born in Hydaburg, Alaska, into a historically prominent family of artists and cultural leaders, Davidson is the great-grandson of Charles (c. 1839-1920) and Isabella Edenshaw (1842-1926). In 1969, Robert and his younger brother, Reg, raised the first monumental totem pole in Masset, British Columbia, in nearly a century. Through his work with Sealaska Heritage Institute in Southeastern Alaska over the last several years, Davidson has also served as an artistic and cultural bridge between Alaskan artists and their Canadian counterparts. Made in 1973, this engraved silver Zippo lighter is from an earlier era in Davidson’s career. [1] The Dogfish design it depicts is split between the front and back of the lighter, with the face and pectoral fins on the front and the body, dorsal, and caudal fins engraved on the back. While the face of the Dogfish is rendered in a classic Haida symmetrical frontal style, the body and fins on the verso foreshadow Davidson’s growing interest at the time in asymmetry and abstraction. This Zippo is signed “Davidson” and dated “73” under the latch on the lighter’s proper left side. 1. There is a similar Zippo from 1971 by Davidson (3260/271) in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. CWS](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/23_1.jpg)
![Lot 33 NAKAṔANKAM MUNGO MARTIN (C. 1879-1962) KWAKWA̱KA̱ʼWAKW Dzunuḵ̓wa (Wild Woman) Figure with Articulated Arms and Dish, c. 1948 cedar wood, paint, and nails, 17 x 5.5 x 8 in (43.2 x 14 x 20.3 cm), dimensions variable, measurements reflect depth with articulated arms and bowl fully extended, without / at rest: 6.5 in (16.5 cm) unsigned. ESTIMATE: $9,000 — $12,000 Mungo Martin was taught to carve by his stepfather, Yakuglas Charlie James (c. 1867-1938), and often worked with his niece, Ḵaḵaso’las Ellen Neel (1916-1966). [1] Together, they formed one of the most innovative and important Northwest Coast artistic lineages of the 20th century. This Dzunuḵ̓wa Figure is very similar to an example in the MOA that was originally donated to the museum as a Neel carving in 2009 (2778/1 a-b). Since then, however, multiple experts have reevaluated that attribution and instead identified the figure as the work of Martin. [2] As noted by the MOA, it would seem that Neel would occasionally sell her uncle’s pieces for him, perhaps leading to the confusion. Dzunuḵ̓wa, the Wild Woman of the Woods, is a hairy, cannibalistic giantess. She is often depicted with simian facial features, long black hair, and pursed, red lips. Like the MOA example, this carving is a figural rendering of Dzunuḵ̓wa holding a decorated basket or dish. Her arms are attached at an angle, terminating in large, well-carved hands. Her face is sculpted into a classic form, with sharp cheekbones, puckered red lips, and internally tangent circles for eyes. Her head and body are painted all black, with secondary yellow forms delineating her facial features, breasts, and knees. As with its MOA counterpart, this figure is mounted to a rounded, handmade base. 1. See Lots 42, 59, and 60, this sale. 2. Dzunuḵ̓wa Figure. Item number 2778/1 a-b. MOA-CAT. http://collection-online.moa.ubc.ca/search/item?keywords=mungo+martin&row=16&tab=more. Accessed 26 March 2026. CWS](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/33_1.jpg)
![Lot 18 KENOJUAK ASHEVAK, C.C., R.C.A. (1927-2013) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET) The Woman Who Lives in the Sun, 1960 #23 Printmaker: LUKTA QIATSUK (1928-2004) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET) stonecut, 19.25 x 25.75 in (48.9 x 65.4 cm), framed 4/50 ESTIMATE: $25,000 — $35,000 Created the same year as The Enchanted Owl, The Woman Who Lives in the Sun possesses the same arresting force that made Kenojuak one of the first breakout stars of Inuit art. Like The Enchanted Owl, it was issued in two colour states, the first in a dazzling, bright yellow and the second in orange-red. In the case of The Woman Who Lives in the Sun, however, the change was apparently unplanned, prompted only by the print shop running out of yellow ink. Here, the anthropomorphized image presents the sun as a woman, easily distinguished by the hypnotic rows of lines that depict her spectacular facial tattoos. This conception may reach back to the Inuit narrative of a woman who, after discovering she had unknowingly lain with her brother, fled with a burning torch. Her brother chased after her, but his own torch went out, and in the end the two were transformed in the sky: she became the sun, he the moon. Yet the sun may hold such significance in the Arctic for a simpler reason as well: the sun’s association with life, light, joy, and abundance carries particular force in a region where its absence is felt for much of the year. After her beloved Johnniebo’s death in 1972, Kenojuak suggested that this image, along with several others, had actually been drawn by him. Others close to the work itself were not persuaded. Terry Ryan, who bought the original drawing directly from Kenojuak, felt the style was plainly hers. James Houston seems to have felt the same. He admired the image enough to hang it above his own couch and, having been in Kinngait when it was made, attributed it to Kenojuak in his 1967 book Eskimo Prints. There, he writes, Kenojuak records her vision of the woman who lives in the sun with strong solid color and boldly projecting rays. She gives the sun woman a bright hard smile and the chin tattooing of her people. A shaman, whom some said had the power to fly, told the people that both the sun and the moon belonged to women [1]. Fascinatingly, in her diaries, Rosemary Gilliat Eaton, who was in the Arctic on assignment for the National Film Board and photographed printmaker of The Woman Who Lives in the Sun with the very stoneblock (pictured), recorded the following: After lunch Barb [Barabra Hines] washed her hair & collapsed into bed. I went over to the workshop & took some photos of Eeinidluk [Eegyvudluk Pootoogook] cutting a stone block of Kiashuk’s owls and hare. Lukta [Qiatsuk] was in the craft centre painting Sheowah’s [Sheouak Petaulassie] drawing of a sun with a face, on a prepared piece of stone - prior to cutting it. I fear he may not do this till Monday [2]. That note opens an intriguing possibility: perhaps Kenojuak was right to say the image was not hers, though not because it was by Johnniebo, but because it may have been by Sheouak instead. To our eye, the style still feels much closer to Kenojuak, but the question remains open and the evidence tantalizing. Whatever its authorship, and regardless of discourse around the subject, the work has lost none of its force. Even now, more than sixty-five years after its making, it continues to complicate, reward, and deepen our understanding of early printmaking in Kinngait and this warm, blazing maternal sun is given a commanding presence: watchful, fully present, and powerful. 1. James A. Houston, Eskimo Prints, (Barre, MA, USA: Barre Publishers, 1967), p. 38 2. See Library and Archives Canada, Rosemary Gilliat (Eaton)’s Arctic diary, Image 332, digital record e011181043-332. The author notes that while this could simply be an error on her part, Gilliat was on assignment in the Arctic for roughly four months in 1960, and the publicly identifiable Library and Archives Canada records show at least four photographs each of Kenojuak Ashevak and Sheouak Petaulassie. She was, therefore, in the author’s opinion not recording these women in passing but encountered both on multiple occasions, suggesting a degree of familiarity. ND](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/18_1.jpg)
![Lot 25 BILL REID (IIJUWAS), O.B.C., R.C.A. (1920-1998), HAIDA Eagle Painted Vest, c. 1970s cotton fabric and acrylic paint, 26 x 16 in (66 x 40.6 cm), irregular, framed. signed to the affixed placard, within the frame, ""Bill Reid"". ESTIMATE: $12,000 — $18,000 The original Eagle formline design on this vest by Haida artist Bill Reid recalls his iconic silkscreen print series of the 1970s. As mentioned in Lot 24, Reid was a huge figure in the Northwest Coast art world in the second half of the 20th century. Reid, along with his friend and sometime collaborator Bill Holm (see Lot 34), was largely responsible for the revitalization of Northern Northwest Coast two-dimensional design conventions. This Eagle design is classic Reid, an elegant assemblage of forms, sensitively rendered in red and black. Here, Reid’s ovoids and formlines swell and then rapidly contract into impossibly thin fine lines, maximizing the contrast and drama of the composition. Although Reid did produce a series of vests with printed designs for the paddlers of the Loo Taas canoe, hand painted vests such as this one are extremely rare. That said, we do know that Reid made at least one other similar vest, with a Dogfish design, for his wife Martine in 1978. [1] That vest is in the Bill and Martine Reid Founding Collection of the Bill Reid Gallery. We extend our thanks to the Bill Reid Gallery for assisting in the cataloguing of this item. 1. See Parent Catalog Number 2002.1 in the collection of the Bill Reid Gallery for more information. https://billreidgallery.pastperfectonline.com/archive/598ACBEF-F86D-4A53-93C2-203229234116. Accessed 31 March 2026. CWS](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/25_1.jpg)
![Lot 43 JACK JAMES (c. 1902-1980) KWAKWA̱KA̱ʼWAKW Opposing Dzunuḵ̓wa Model Feast Bowl, c. 1950-1960s cedar wood and paint, 16 x 24 x 10.75 in (40.6 x 61 x 27.3 cm) unsigned. ESTIMATE: $7,000 — $10,000 Jack James was a versatile Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artist from Gilford Island, BC, primarily known for his masks and complex model poles. He also occasionally made cut-out plaques and figural feast dishes, such as this one. Although James’s work often incorporates a white ground colour [1], which has drawn comparisons to artists such as Willie Seaweed (c. 1873-1967) and Henry Speck (1908-1971), he also created works that were only minimally painted (or unpainted altogether) and that emphasized his sculpting ability. This model dish is based on a monumental feast bowl now in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (MOA). [2] According to the MOA catalogue entry, the original bowl was created in 1910 by Herbert Johnson (1896-1953) and transferred as a dowry from Gilford Island to Kingcome Inlet, so this is an object that James would be familiar with. As with the monumental dish, James’s model features the striking image of two seated Dzunuḵ̓wa opposing one another, with their feet and hands touching. James has sculpted the Dzunuḵ̓wa’s faces to emphasize their large ears, strong features, and characteristically pursed lips. In a show of artistic restraint, James minimally painted the faces of these figures in red and black, to great effect. The heads of the Dzunuḵ̓wa turn and can be positioned as the viewer wishes. 1. See Lots 44 and 45, this sale. 2. See Feast Dish (MOA object A4492) for more information and photos. CWS](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/43_1.jpg)
![Lot 46 KAROO ASHEVAK (1940-1974) TALOYOAK (SPENCE BAY) Dancing, Chanting Figure (with Mittens), c. 1972/73 whale bone, stone, and antler, 10.5 x 4.75 x 2.75 in (26.7 x 12.1 x 7 cm) signed "ᑲᔪ". ESTIMATE: $20,000 — $30,000 Karoo Ashevak came to carving soon after moving into Taloyoak (Spence Bay) in 1968, when whale bone had been specially flown into the settlement and a number of local artists began experimenting with it. What began as a community opportunity became, in his hands, something extraordinary. Karoo’s ascent was rapid: by 1973, only a few years into his artistic practice, he had already had three solo exhibitions, including one in New York. His life ended far too early in 1974, when he and his wife tragically died in a house fire. Even so, five years proved enough for Karoo to alter the course of Inuit art in a lasting way. What set Karoo’s work apart then, and still does now, is the sheer audacity of his invention. At outset, unlike many of his peers, he did not treat materials as fixed but as elements to be combined, tested, and, most importantly, to be made deliberately strange. In his sculpture, bone, antler, ivory, stone, and other materials come together with complete freedom, while the figures themselves are pegged, joined, and built in ways that feel fresh, improvised, and entirely his own. The present work likely dates from just before the midpoint of Karoo’s brief career, on the threshold of the more radical phase in which he began to unsettle the body itself, deliberately mismatching features such as the eyes. Suspended on a peg rather than planted on its feet, the figure here refuses any stable, grounded stance. Its legs hang loose, giving the impression not of standing but of hovering or dancing, a reading that recalls the trance state or spirit flight associated with the shaman’s passage beyond ordinary physical limits. That impression grows stronger in light of Jean Blodgett’s discussion of shamanic performance, in which dancing and ecstatic movement animate the body [1]. The open mouth also feels active rather than merely descriptive, suggesting chant, breath, or spoken incantation, and reinforcing Blodgett’s emphasis on ritual action as something heard as well as seen [2]. Most telling of all are the mittens. As Blodgett notes, “another of the shaman’s accoutrements were his mittens,” worn in ritual practice, including as protection against evil spirits [3]. 1. Jean Blodgett, Karoo Ashevak, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1977), unpaginated. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. FA](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/46_1.jpg)
![Lot 34 BILL HOLM (O. WILLIAM HOLM JR.) (1925-2020) NON-INDIGENOUS Untitled (Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Winter Ceremony Dancer), 1977 watercolour and gouache over graphite on heavy wove rag paper, 11.5 x 9 in (29.2 x 22.9 cm) signed and dated, "Bill Holm '77". Accompanied by: Steven C. Brown, ""Sun Dogs & Eagle Down: The Indian Paintings of Bill Holm"", (Seattle / London: The University of Washington Press / Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 2000); Bill Holm, ""Smoky-Top: The Art and Times of Willie Seaweed"", Seattle / London: The University of Washington Press: 1983). ESTIMATE: $18,000 — $28,000 So much of Bill Holm’s involvement in Northwest Coast and specifically Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw culture is embodied in this painting, that it’s difficult to know where to begin. The dance itself, part of the Dloogwala, or supernatural origins series, is a privilege given to Holm and his wife, Marty, by cultural leader Mungo Martin of the Fort Rupert band of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw in the late 50’s/early 60’s, in recognition of Holm’s interest in and enthusiasm for Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw traditions. The painting depicts an appropriately garbed female dancer in performance within the suggestion of a traditional Bighouse, the wallboards and attentive audience of which are seen beyond the blaze of firelight in the center of the room. The dancer’s garb, referred to as a button robe (or blanket) in English, is in the common design of a dark blue rectangular Hudson’s Bay wool blanket that is trimmed with a border of red wool, festooned with reflective commercial mother-of-pearl buttons in two sizes arranged in a geometric pattern. At the neck of the dancer, the red border is interrupted with a narrow patch of cloth in a simple print, a sacrificial piece that prevents undue wear on the more highly valued red wool. Within the border, the image of a stylized tree is represented in red wool with a perimeter of buttons outlining the branches and roots of the tree. The dancer is representative of a small group of related females that move about the Bighouse in time with the rhythm and story of the song, which is inherited along with the privilege itself. The dancer’s thumbs are held upward from clenched fists in traditional fashion for this dance, and are bobbed subtly up and down with the rhythm of the performance. The wooden head and body of a wolf are connected by separate pieces. The head of the wolf is worn as a forehead mask, not straight ahead, but at a slight upward angle. This facilitates the wolf looking from side to side with the dancer’s movements. The wolf’s head and body are in the style of Willie Seaweed, a carver much admired by Holm for his beautifully integrated designs. The wolf’s ears are separate pieces, and a short cape-like piece of cloth covers the space between the wolf’s head and body. The body and legs of the wolf cascade down the dancer’s back. The body is one piece, and the four separate legs and feet are fastened in such a way that they move gently with the dance. Steven C. Brown The Wolf Mask in this 1977 painting is a particular mask by Willie Seaweed that Holm greatly admired. In his seminal book Smoky-Top: The Art and Times of Willie Seaweed (1983), which accompanies this lot, Holm notes that this mask was created specifically for the daughter of Tom Patch Wamiss (probably Elsie Wamiss Williams, 1934-1993) and was “the most elaborate [Seaweed wolf mask] ever conceived” (p. 155). Holm goes on to say that “The head of the wolf is typical of Seaweed masks in every way, but there the resemblance ends. Attached to the dancer’s back, so that it is a continuation of the wolf’s head, is the complete body of the wolf, with loosely attached legs and a tail turned upward to lie along the creature’s back” (p. 155). Holm considered the mask to be groundbreaking and influential, stating that “At least three copies of the wolf mask have been made… There may be more like it made in the future. It was innovative and effective, and Kwakwakaʼwakw artists have never been reluctant to adopt dramatic ideas” (p. 155). In all, Holm published the Wolf Mask in three locations in Smoky-Top: pages 31, 155, and 156. The photo on page 156 is of a woman, probably Elsie Wamiss Williams, wearing the Wolf Mask in 1962. The photo reflects a similar angle and perspective to that of the woman in the 1977 painting, and the resemblance between the two women is striking. As the painting was made in 1977, six years before the publication of Smoky-Top in 1983, it’s clear that this Wolf Mask was of special interest to Holm and that this painting could be understood in the context of Holm’s research process leading up to the book. CWS](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/34_1.jpg)
![Lot 60 ḴAḴASO’LAS ELLEN NEEL (1916-1966) KWAKWA̱KA̱ʼWAKW (and possibly A MEMBER OF THE NEEL FAMILY) Untitled (Totem in a Landscape), c. 1960 cedar wood wire brush carved totem, paint, and plaster on plywood, 31.25 x 23 x 4 in (79.4 x 58.4 x 10.2 cm), the totem pole adhered with two slotted brass screws; signed, "Ellen Neel / Ka Ka Solas (Kakaso'las)" ESTIMATE: $5,000 — $8,000 We, the Indian artist, must be allowed to create. We must be allowed new and modern techniques... new and modern tools... new and modern materials. Ellen Neel Keynote Address for the first B.C. Arts and Welfare Society Conference, University of British Columbia — April 1948 Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artist Ḵaḵaso’las, Ellen Neel (1916-1966) is known as a pioneering female Northwest Coast carver and entrepreneur. Trained by her grandfather Yakuglas, Charlie James (c.1867-1938) (see lot 59) and mentored by her uncle Mungo Martin, Chief Nakaṕankam (1881-1962) (see lots 33, 42, and 59), she not only produced large scale crest poles in Stanley Park but also innovated forms and materials to create new commercial products, including model poles, silkscreen scarves, and porcelain tableware. She established her own business and retail store, Totem Art Studios, and transformed Indigenous cultural forms for the tourist market. This mixed-media work on panel is a unique example of her innovative artistic spirit. A cedar model pole and illusionistic plaster rocks have been affixed to a brushily painted forest background. The natural wood grain surface of the pole recalls her highly sought-after unpainted masks, whose natural wood grain and organically curving surfaces deploy a modernist emphasis on materiality. Neel utilized a technique for such masks in which she charred the wood then scrubbed it with a wire brush to reveal the gradations in the grain, and used a similar technique for select few model poles and wood sculptures. Here, the technique evokes a weathered pole in situ, appealing to the diorama-like nature of the assemblage. The pole itself seems to emerge from a halo of white clouds or smoke and the painted background, emulating the romantic post-impressionistic style of Emily Carr, seems to suggest a timeless scene of wonder. Yet the work’s techniques—broad unfinished brushstrokes, stark materiality, and innovative combination of mediums—declare its modernity. The painting may have been influenced by or made in collaboration with Neel’s son, Tla’tla’klalis, David L. Neel (1937-1961), who was among the first Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artists to enroll in formal Euro-Canadian fine art training through painting classes at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Like the present example, his work in the late 1950s combined Euro-Canadian painting conventions with Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw subject matter, including a celebrated image of a dancer and crest pole that appeared on the cover of The Native Voice in 1958 [1]. Totem Art Studios was a full family affair, and this extraordinary work from Neel’s oeuvre confirms her and her family’s importance as key figures in the history of modern Northwest Coast Native art. Christopher T. Green 1. The now-famous photograph of Ḵaḵaso’las, Ellen Neel in her studio captures the artist at work, with a copy of The Native Voice, illustrated with David Neel’s painting, visible on the table beside her. See Gar Lunney, Ellen Neel at work in her studio, 1958. Library and Archives Canada / National Film Board fonds, e011176933. Christopher T. Green, Ph.D. is a New York-area based writer and scholar whose research, teaching, and curating focus has included modern and contemporary Native North American art and material culture, and the global representation and display of Indigenous art and culture. His current research focuses on contemporary Tlingit art and the interrelation of 20th century Northwest Coast Native art and Euro-American modernism. He currently serves as visiting assistant professor of Art History and Environmental Studies at Swarthmore College.](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-firstarts/usr/library/images/main/feature_panels/885/60_1.jpg)
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