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Artworks
DAVIDIALUK ALASUA AMITTU (1910-1976) PUVIRNITUQ (POVUNGNITUK)
Iqalunappa (“Half-Fish”), late 1960sstone, 3 x 12.25 x 3.5 in (7.6 x 31.1 x 8.9 cm)
unsigned.Further images
While we are perhaps more familiar with the story of the sea goddess Sedna, Davidialuk frequently depicted Iqalunappa (the “Half-Fish”). In both sculpture and print, Davidialuk would show the legend...While we are perhaps more familiar with the story of the sea goddess Sedna, Davidialuk frequently depicted Iqalunappa (the “Half-Fish”). In both sculpture and print, Davidialuk would show the legend of the hunter who encountered a mermaid-like creature, stranded on the shoreline. The stranded half-fish promised the Inuk a gramophone, a gun, and a sewing machine in exchange for being returned to the water. According to Davidialuk, the hunter located a piece of driftwood which he used to lever Iqalunappa off the rocks. Here Davidialuk omits the hunter, but one wonders, based on her facial expression and the position of her arms, whether Iqalunappa is trying unsuccessfully to extricate herself from the rocks. We love how Davidialuk delicately incised the scales and hair in a manner that highlights his skill as both sculptor and graphic artist.
References: For depictions of Iqalunappa and similar works by Davidialuk see Zebedee Nungak & Eugene Arima, eds., Inuit Stories: Povungnituk, (Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1969/1988), pp. 92-93; Gerald McMaster ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), p. 114; George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: M&S, 1972/92), fig. 350. See also Darlene Coward Wight, The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art, (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1990), cat. 64, for a Davidialuk Half-Fish carving signed by his sister Minnie Assappa. For more information on this famous artist see Marybelle Myers ed., Davidialuk 1977, (Quebec: La Fédération des Coopératives du Nouveau-Québec, 1977); Bernard Saladin d’Anglure, La parole changée en pierre: vie et oeuvre de Davidialuk Alasuaq, artiste inuit du Québec arctique, (Québec: Ministère des affaires culturelles, 1978).Provenance
J&S Enterprises, North Brookfield, MA;
Private Collection, Michigan.
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