JOHN PANGNARK (1920-1980) ARVIAT (ESKIMO POINT), Figure Gazing Upward with Clasped Hands, early 1970s

stone, 5.25 x 5 x 1.25 in (13.3 x 12.7 x 3.2 cm)
signed, "ᐸᓂ".

LOT 10
ESTIMATE: $1,500 — $2,500

By the early 1970s, John Pangnark had begun stripping the human figure down to its most essential signs. Works from this period are less depictions of the body than suggestions...

By the early 1970s, John Pangnark had begun stripping the human figure down to its most essential signs. Works from this period are less depictions of the body than suggestions of it, with a few incised lines or subtle projections doing nearly all the descriptive work.

Figure Gazing Upward with Clasped Hands is a particularly expressive example. The body is reduced to a broad, almost uninterrupted mass, while the slightest cuts indicate the arms and clasped hands drawn together at the front. Above, the figure tilts sharply upward, giving the work an unexpectedly vivid attitude despite Pangnark’s extreme economy of detail. There is something wonderfully affecting in the pose: the clasped hands and lifted face might suggest expectation, wonder, prayer, or simply someone completely absorbed by whatever has caught their attention overhead.

Provenance

A Toronto Collection.

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JOHN PANGNARK (1920-1980) ARVIAT (ESKIMO POINT)

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