As with the stunning Totemic Composition with Bears, Otter and Seal, also from c. 1953-54 (see First Arts Auction, July 2020, Lot 64), the artist of this fine sculpture is likely one of three Amidlaks listed in that catalogue. We feel that this work, although very similar to the above-mentioned work, is by a different hand but definitely from the same “school” (which in this case would be the same camp, led by the older Amidlak). Our hunch is that the artist here is Levi Amidlak, the talented son of Amidlak. This assumes that Levi is also the author of the fine Head and Torso of a Bear from c. 1952, in the Guild Collection (an attribution that is sometimes disputed). We feel the similarity between the two works is very strong [1].

Totem-style compositions were carved in the early 1950s (almost exclusively in Inukjuak), following the publication of James Houston’s 1951 instructional publication Sanajasak: Eskimo Handicrafts, which included a fanciful drawing by Houston that conflated Inuit and Northwest Coast imagery. The booklet was quickly withdrawn but the charming if quirky imagery inspired by it persisted for a few years.

Totemic Composition with Bears and a Bird is one of the works that truly transcends the rather comical look of Houston’s drawing. Like its cousin Totemic Composition with Bears, Otter and Seal, this impressive work is a sculpture of generous proportions, bold and original composition, and fine workmanship. Differences between the bear figures and heads mean that one side is not simply a mirror image of the other. The bears’ charming whiskers and their dozens of inset teeth contrast nicely with the dark, luscious Inukjuak stone, and attest to the artist’s attention to detail. And we love the way the bird sits sentinel atop the bears’ heads.

1. See Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, The Permanent Collection: Inuit Arts and Crafts: c. 1900-1980, (Montreal: CGCQ, 1980), cat. 18. Darlene Wight has done a lot of research trying to sort out the confusion between Amidlak, his son Levi Amidlak, and Samwillie Amidlak, but there is still work to be done (see the WAG Early Masters catalogue).

References: For another important and very similar totemic composition see First Arts Auction, July 2020, Lot 64. For a superb head and torso of a snarling bear by Levi Amidlak see Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec, The Permanent Collection: Inuit Arts and Crafts: c. 1900-1980, (Montreal: CGCQ, 1980), cat. 18. For a smaller but similarly styled Bear-Walrus Totem see Walker’s Auctions, May 2017, Lot 1. See also Darlene Coward Wight, “The Handicrafts Experiment, 1949-53” in The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1990) cats. 22-27 for various examples of Inuit “totems.” See the section on Amidlak in Darlene Coward Wight, Early Masters: Inuit Sculpture 1949-1955, (WAG, 2006), pp. 44-49.