OSUITOK IPEELEE, R.C.A. (1923-2005) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Owl and Three Chicks, c. 1983
stone, 12.25 x 7.75 x 7.5 in (31.1 x 19.7 x 19.1 cm)
signed and inscribed, "ᐅᓱᐃᑐ ᐄᐱᓕ ᑭᒐᐃ (Kinngait)".
signed and inscribed, "ᐅᓱᐃᑐ ᐄᐱᓕ ᑭᒐᐃ (Kinngait)".
LOT 52
ESTIMATE: $15,000 — $25,000
ESTIMATE: $15,000 — $25,000
Further images
This stylized depiction of an owl with her chicks is one of several sculptures of owls from the early 1980s by the artist in which they appear in often abstracted,...
This stylized depiction of an owl with her chicks is one of several sculptures of owls from the early 1980s by the artist in which they appear in often abstracted, dynamic compositions. [1] The features of the birds are exaggerated, particularly the deep-set eyes, while the arms and torso-like tail of this mother owl indicate a human transformation. Osuitok has created a work which is brilliantly balanced, with the negative space around the chicks’ heads providing a counterweight to the arms and torso/tail planted on the ground. It is also a strikingly dynamic composition, full of pent-up energy. From the alert faces of the birds, all staring in one direction, to the seeming instability of the curved base to the knuckles of the hands pushing down; all indicate tension and imminent movement.
References: For other works by Osuitok see Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971), international travelling exhibition 1971-73, cat. 190. See other stylistically similar works in Theo Waddington Gallery, Aipellie Osuitok (Oshaweetok), (Montreal, 1980), exhibition catalogue.
1. We see precursors of this style already two decades earlier; see Osuitok’s Owl from 1964 in Sculpture/Inuit (1971), cat. 190. For a fine contemporaneous example see his Owl from c. 1982 in Derek Norton and Nigel Reading, Cape Dorset Sculpture, (Vancouver: D&M, 2005), p. 15.
References: For other works by Osuitok see Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971), international travelling exhibition 1971-73, cat. 190. See other stylistically similar works in Theo Waddington Gallery, Aipellie Osuitok (Oshaweetok), (Montreal, 1980), exhibition catalogue.
Provenance
Private Collecton;Waddington's, Toronto, 4 Nov 2002, Lot 151;
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.
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