Mary Sanaaq is an artist whose work we have come to appreciate from personal experience over the years, but sadly very little is known of Sanaaq’s life and career. We know that she was married to the well-respected camp leader, hunter, entrepreneur, and occasional carver Markusi Papigatok (1906-1971). She was not prolific; only a handful of works are known to be held and documented in public collections, including a sculpture in the Sarick Collection at the AGO and one at the Canadian Museum of History, both dating from c. 1955-56. The Sarick example, like the present work, is exceptionally fine and quite imposing; two other lovely smaller sculptures have been sold at auction in recent years (Walker’s 2013 and 2016).

It is worth repeating that 1950s Salluit sculpture is one of the great artistic flowerings in the history of Inuit art, and that fully half of Salluit artists were women. We continue to be astonished by the quantity of lovely sculptures that were carved in this tiny community in the space of a few short years, including a surprising number of truly great masterpieces (for example see First Arts Auction, December 2020, Lot 25). Sanaaq’s sculpture absolutely ranks among the finest of these.

Like many of her Salluit peers Sanaaq’s favourite subjects were maternal scenes; Mother with Two Children is arguably her most iconic work in this vein. The image is monumental yet engaging; robust yet delicate in its details; sophisticated in its handling of sculptural form yet possessing homespun charm. The woman’s powerful legs and the impressive sweep of her amautiq flaps lend strength and stability to the composition, giving way gradually to smaller volumes and details that culminate in the exquisitely rendered head of the young mother. The bulging sculptural forms of the hood, pouch and rear flap of the parka dominate the back of the sculpture, while the front view offers something entirely different and remarkable: a cascade of curved “embracing” gestures and shapes in the form of arms, braids, front flap, and legs.


References: For other works by the artist see Céline Saucier, Guardians of Memory: Sculpture-Women of Nunavik (Québec: Les editions de L’instant meme, 1998) figs. 45 and 70; Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, November 2013, Lot 68; Walker’s May 2016, Lot 70. To learn more about Salluit sculpture see Ted Fraser and Michael Neill, Sugluk: Sculpture in Stone 1953-1959 (Windsor: Art Gallery of Windsor, 1992).