DAVID IKUTAAQ (1929-1984) QAMANI'TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
signed and inscribed with artist's disc number, "ᐃᑲᑕ / E2-349".
ESTIMATE: $6,000 — $9,000
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David Ikutaaq was one of the foremost Baker Lake sculptors of the early 1960s, with his work exhibited and published widely, and he helped shape the 1960s Baker Lake style. In his first, landmark book on Inuit sculpture (see below), George Swinton devoted a two-page spread to this masterpiece. His commentary (p. 115) still rings true: “Ekoota is a great carver of strong sculptural awareness… all volumes flow into each other with an amazing degree of continuity very reminiscent of Henry Moore. Also of interest is the effectiveness of this carving in two positions.”
Though Ikutaaq carved a ruggedly powerful sculpture, in Father and Child he yet managed to convey a rare image of paternal care and affection with remarkable sensitivity. And the idea of the two possible orientations is ingenious and full of possibilities. In the standing posture, the father appears to be gently lowering his child to the ground (or perhaps picking him or her up), while in the seated pose, he seems to be comforting the child even as his expressive face looks for assistance. The work is every bit as moving and evocative as any mother-and-child composition we have seen. Remarkable.
For other works by the artist see George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), figs. 5, 119, 673-677, 680. See also Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture / Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971), cats. 263, 368.
Provenance
Ex. Collection of R. Bennett, Montreal;Mira Godard Collection of Inuit Art, Montreal/Toronto (by 1971);
Waddington’s Auctions, 7 Nov. 2005, Lot 354A;
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.
Exhibitions
Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, organizers, Sculpture / Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, travelling exh., Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery, 9 Nov 1971 - 9 Dec 1971; Paris, France, Le Grand Palais, 10 Feb - 2 April 1972; Copenhagen, Nationalmuseet, 26 April - 28 May 1972; Saint Petersburg [Leningrad], The Hermitage, 29 June -23 July 1972; Moscow, Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, 10 Aug - 10 Sept 1972; London, UK, Burlington Gardens Museum, 5 October - 10 Dec 1972; Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Museum of Art, - 24 Jan 1972- 4 March 1973; Ottawa, National Museum of Man, [?]; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, 18 May 1973- 17 June 1973, cat. 262.This work can be seen on display in a photo from the installation of the show in Copenhagen, see Steen Jacobsen's Copenhagen, Sculpture/Inuit [Masterworks Exhibition]. Photographs. 1972; in a photo from the Vancouver leg of the show, see Vancouver, from Sculpture/Inuit, Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic [Masterworks Exhibition]. Photographs. 1971, R216-3886-6-E, Box 4875 and R216-3884-2-E, Box 4875, respectively, which we have reproduced here.
Publications
George Swinton, Eskimo Sculpture, (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, Ltd., 1965), pp. 114-115;George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 676, p. 220.Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture / Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971), fig. cat. 262.
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