JUANISIALU IRQUMIA (1912-1977) m., PUVIRNITUQ (POVUNGNITUK)
signed and inscribed with disc number, "JOANESSEALUK / E.9. 1407".
LOT 146
ESTIMATE: $5,000 — $8,000
Further images
Two Women Preparing Skins is carved in a realistic style, but not in the “high realism” practised by Charlie Sivuarapik and his followers in the community. Instead, Juanisialu created softly rounded and modulated volumes that emphasize form over precise detail. This helps to create an aura of serenity that makes this sculpture so appealing.The work is hardly lacking in detail, however; we learn quite a lot about the effort and skill that was involved in preparing skins for clothing and other uses. The standing woman is washing a sealskin over a fire. Seal skins had to be washed quickly in fresh water for best results, and in boiling water if the hair needed to be removed to fashion waterproof footwear and mittens. The seated woman is scraping a skin, removing fat and blubber; the process of washing and scraping was repeated at least once.
Literature: Juanisialu’s prints can be found in twelve Puvirnituq annual print collection catalogues between the years 1962 and 1980. For sculptures by the artist see George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit (Toronto: M&S, 1972/92), figs. 335, 340; Zebedee Nungak and Eugene Arima, EskimoStories: Povungnituk (Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1988), pp. 30, 148. See also Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, May 2012, Lot 324; Nov. 2017, Lot 223.
Provenance
Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC;
Acquired from the above by Fred and Mary Widding, Ithaca, NY, August 2004.
Exhibitions
Ithaca, NY, Handwerker Gallery, Gannett Center, Ithaca College, Of the People; Inuit Sculpture from the Collection of Mary and Fred Widding, 26 February - 6 April 2008, cat. no. 30Publications
Cheryl Kramer & Lillian R. Shafer eds., Of the People; Inuit Sculpture from the Collection of Mary and Fred Widding, exh. cat., (Ithaca, NY: Handwerker Gallery, Gannett Center, Ithaca College, 2008), reproduced, cat. no. 30.Join Our Mailing List
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