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Artworks
GARY MINAKER-RUSS (1958), MASSET, HAIDA GWAII
Haida Supernatural Hawk Man with Paddle and Hawk Rattle, 2008argillite, 11.5 x 9 x 5.5 in (29.2 x 22.9 x 14 cm)
titled, signed, and inscribed, "HAIDA / SUPER NATURAL [sic] / HAWK MAN [sic] WITH PAddlE / + HAWK RATTLE / GARY MINAKER-RUSS / MASSET."LOT 27
ESTIMATE: $8,000 — $12,000
PRICE REALIZED: $9,000.00Further images
Gary Minaker-Russ is a contemporary master argillite carver. He was a middle child in a large family and chose to move in with his brother, Ed, and sister-in-law, Faye, while...Gary Minaker-Russ is a contemporary master argillite carver. He was a middle child in a large family and chose to move in with his brother, Ed, and sister-in-law, Faye, while still a teenager to learn to carve. This also afforded him the opportunity to learn about Haida cultural history and to gain some business acumen.
His work has been widely collected and exhibited internationally. Minaker-Russ’s distinctive style includes narrative depictions of Haida mythology, the natural world, and ceremonial dancers sometimes in full regalia – or like the Hawkman here in a state of transformation between bird and human – figures in motion and fully rendered in the round. Gary Minaker-Russ was influenced by the workmanship and work ethic of Charles Edenshaw; this artist is committed to making major pieces, and he strives to develop select pieces requiring both time and detail, such as a full village scene taking months or even years to complete.
Gary Wyatt
References: For an important work by the artist from 1998, The Blind Halibut Fisherman, see First Arts, 30 November 2021, Lot 78. For the chapter on the artist’s life and work see Carol Sheehan’s book Breathing Stone; Contemporary Haida Argillite Sculpture, (Calgary: Frontenac House Ltd., 2008), pp. 130-141.Provenance
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, B.C.;
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, Toronto.
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