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Artworks
Attributed to QAQAQ (KAKA) ASHOONA (1928-1996) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Bust of a Hunter with Knife, c. 1954stone, 8.25 x 10.5 x 4.5 in (21 x 26.7 x 11.4 cm)
unsigned.
LOT 31
ESTIMATE: $6,000 — $9,000
PRICE REALIZED: $5,040.00Further images
George Swinton attributed this remarkable sculpture to an unknown artist from Inukjuak in his book Sculpture of the Inuit, but we feel there is strong reason to believe that it...George Swinton attributed this remarkable sculpture to an unknown artist from Inukjuak in his book Sculpture of the Inuit, but we feel there is strong reason to believe that it was carved by the important Cape Dorset sculptor Qaqaq (Kaka) Ashoona. We see a strong “family resemblance” to a famous work by the artist from 1956, Bust of a Woman in the Canadian Museum of History collection. The intense, expressionistic look of the resolutely carved faces strikes us as very similar (as do the hands); many of Qaqaq’s sculptures over the years were notable for their expressive faces. Bust of a Hunter with Knife is a fiercely powerful image, unsettling and utterly riveting.
References: Bust of a Woman, 1956 is reproduced in Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, Sculpture / Inuit, Sculpture of the Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Published for the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council, 1971), fig. 402; George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972), fig. 501, p. 193; and Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1998), pl. 47, p. 63. For another similar example, see also Untitled (Woman Holding a Child), 1957, reproduced in Darlene Wight, The First Passionate Collector: Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1990), cat. 53, p. 114.
Provenance
Important Private Collection, Canada.Publications
George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972), fig. 271, reproduced p. 156, as "Unidentified Artist, Inukjuak".
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