In our July 2021 sale, we had the pleasure of presenting one of Kanayuq’s largest sculptures (Lot 50). We are thrilled to now be able to offer what is one of her finest and most important works, published in Swinton’s landmark book Sculpture of the Inuit and hailing from the collection of Mr. Jack Butler. This spectacular composition depicts a kneeling Inuit woman supporting four young children on her lap, with the smallest safely stowed in her amautiq. The beautifully carved and arranged figures, with their sensitive and utterly charming facial expressions, are a testament to Kanayuq’s extraordinary talent as a novice sculptor. Mother with Five Children has both the beatific quality and the monumentality of the best religious statuary – all in a carving that can easily be held in the hand. Sublime.

Even though we know rather little about the details of Kanayuq’s life, she is one of the most important and beloved Baker Lake sculptors from the crucial decade of the 1970s. Her works have been featured in dozens of major exhibitions and are held in numerous public collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Canada. While perhaps not as well-known as her contemporaries, Kanayuq holds her own against the best of George Tatanniq, Peter Sevoga, Miriam Qiyuk, Barnabus Arnasungaaq, and Mathew Aqigaaq, even though the majority of her carvings are quite small.

References: The format of this outstanding sculpture is quite similar to several other examples that we know of by the artist; see Alistair Macduff and George M. Galpin, Lords of the Stone: An Anthology of Eskimo Sculpture, (North Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 1982), p. 96; Darlene Wight’s exhibition Winnipeg Collects: Inuit Art from Private Collections, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1987), cat. 33. See also George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92), fig. 61 (Mother and Children from 1970, WAG); and Darlene Coward Wight, The Faye and Bert Settler Collection, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2004), pp. 55-57. See also Maria von Finckenstein, editor, Celebrating Inuit Art 1948-1970, (Gatineau: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1999) p. 171 for an example once owned by James Houston and subsequently offered at Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, November 2015, Lot 112. For a larger example by the artist, Mother with Three Children, see First Arts, July 13, 2021, Lot 50.