This marvelous sculpture reveals Tiktak at his most human, and surprisingly, at his most charming. At first glance this sturdy portrayal of a man looks like a typically robust work of the period by the famous Rankin Inlet artist, whose sculptures are famous for their almost Henry Moore-like purity of form and their usually sober countenances. We admit that we were drawn to the sculpture from the very start; it’s an imposing work of generous, pleasing proportions. And when we studied the man’s face it seemed that he was smiling. It was when we moved around to see it in profile that the sculpture suddenly came alive.

Tiktak’s Standing Man is whistling. In profile his face appears almost brutish looking, but he is whistling. Tiktak’s trademark stylistic device – namely arms (with no hands) separated from a figure’s torso by means of simple voids – here appears to imply that the man is standing jauntily with his hands in his pockets. We may never see Tiktak’s work in quite the same light again. According to George Swinton and the artist’s close friend and neighbour Robert Williamson, Tiktak the man was a man of keen sensitivity, quick to both laughter and tears [1]. Outstanding.

Standing Man is comparable to some of Tiktak’s greatest standing figures. For quick reference see Norman Zepp, Pure Vision, (1986), fig. 49; George Swinton, Tiktak, cat. 18; Lalonde and Ribkoff, ItuKiagâtta!, (2005) pl. 13, p. 50. See online references for more.

1. Swinton, Tiktak, 1970, unpaginated.

For similar works by the artist, see George Swinton, Tiktak: Sculptor from Rankin Inlet, N.W.T., (Winnipeg: Gallery One-One-One, University of Manitoba, 1970), cat. 18, unpaginated.; Norman Zepp, Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit, (Regina: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1986), fig. 49, p.;Christine Lalonde and Natalie Ribkoff, ItuKiagâtta! Inuit Sculpture from the Collection of the TD Bank Financial Group, (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2005), pl. 13 / cat. 42, p. 50; For a fine similar work see Man, 1965, illustrated in Maria von Finckenstein ed., Celebrating Inuit Art 1948-1970, (Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization [CMC], 1999), p. 176; see also Bernedette Driscoll, Rankin Inlet/Kangirlliniq, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1981), cat. 46, p. 84; For a smaller, earlier figure in a similar pose see Darlene Wight, The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art, (Winnipeg, Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987), cat. 58, p. 46.