Barnabus Arnasungaaq began carving caribou antler in 1959, and then stone in 1960 when it became available. His first figures of muskoxen were made at least as early as 1964. The artist carved a wide variety of subject matter over his extraordinarily long career, but by the mid 1970s his ability to render both the massiveness and the quiet grace of the muskox with surprising economy of form had captured the imagination of collectors, and Arnasungaaq was receiving many requests and commissions for depictions of the animal. Soon the popularity of “Barnabus Muskoxen” was rivalling that of “Pauta Bears.”

In the spring and summer when there are tourists, they come to my house and ask me to make a sculpture. When I ask what they want, they always ask me to make musk ox [1].

“Barnabus Muskoxen” come in all shapes and sizes and finishes, but few compare with the scale and impact of this enormous beast. Muskox is almost as massive as the colossal example sold at First Arts in July 2020 (Lot 37, front cover). The latter work was quite realistically proportioned despite its size, while this Muskox is simultaneously more abstract and more muscular in its shape and feel. Its massive volumes bulge and heave like a mountain come to life. We love the contrast between the imperfections in the stone that look like battle scars, and the beautiful glossy finish of the sculpture. Fabulous.

1. Artist quote in Gustavison, Northern Rock: Contemporary Inuit Stone Sculpture, 1999, p. 109.