If the wonderful Mother & Child (Lot 51) attributed to Isa Smiler shows an artist at the beginning of his career trying to come to terms with the formal requirements of sculpture, then with his lovely Kneeling Archer, produced about a decade later, we see an artist who has definitely mastered his craft. Where the very earliest Isa Smiler pieces seem somewhat flattened in perspective, this piece shows a wonderful observation of the human form in both anatomy and pose. There is no sense of hesitation here; the artist has rendered his subject with true realism. While the overall form is carved with a pleasing breadth of volume, the young hunter’s essential details: eyes, fingers, and hair are brilliantly executed; one senses that the archer is about to squint in order to better focus on his target. Note that the hand holding the bow is clad in a mitten; the archer has removed the other mitt in order to take his shot. Such is the detail in this piece that one wonders whether it isn’t a portrait, perhaps a self-portrait as a younger man.

This is the work of a supremely confident artist and, while one senses the influence of Johnny Inukpuk, Isa was very much his own man. Indeed, one could argue that at the height of his powers, Isa Smiler was very much Inukpuk’s equal; in fact Inukpuk declared him to be one of the four best carvers in a 2005 interview [1]. The archer subject matter seems to have been a favourite of Isa Smiler’s; we know of two other beautiful examples (see references online).

1. Darlene Wight, Early Masters, (WAG, 2006), p. 93.

Literature: For a section on Isa Smiler’s early life and work see Darlene Coward Wight, Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955 (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2006), pp. 92-97, including another Archer on p. 96). For another similar Archer by the artist see The Eskimo Art Collection of the Toronto-Dominion Bank (Toronto: 1972), cat. 8.