In Lot 26 we see a young boy who is quite possibly the young Pitseolak Niviaqsi perched atop his mother’s shoulders, in a superb early Kinngait sculpture by his father Niviaqsi (Niviaksiak). Niviaqsi was a supremely talented sculptor and graphic artist, powers that he surely passed on to his son; sadly, Niviaqsi died when Pitseolak was only twelve years old. Pitseolak grew up to become one of Kinngait’s most brilliant printmakers; his skills as a master lithographer are almost legendary, and he was instrumental in the creation of several hundred prints from the mid 1970s onwards. Due to his gainful employment in the print studio, Pitseolak was never a prolific carver which is, in retrospect, a loss for the world of sculpture. For at his best, Pitseolak produced sculptures whose beauty and workmanship were equalled by few of his peers.

This masterpiece is almost certainly a portrait of Pitseolak’s wife Sita and two of their six children. Pitseolak’s favourite subjects were portraits of his wife and children as well as lovely renditions of Sedna the Inuit sea goddess. A beautiful sculpture depicting Sita and their twin daughters graced the cover of the Spring 2002 Inuit Art Quarterly magazine. But in our opinion, few if any can compete with this superb sculpture in terms of the stunning interplay of positive and negative space, and the sensitivity with which the artist portrayed the figures themselves.

References: For other fine works by the artist, including a depiction of the artist’s wife Sita and their twins, see the Spirit Wrestler solo exhibition catalogue, The Lyrical World of Pitseolak Niviaqsi, (Vancouver: Spirit Wrestler Gallery, 2001). For other important works by the artist see Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Phoenix: Heard Museum, 2006), cat. 181 (see text),