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Artworks
BARNABUS ARNASUNGAAQ (1924-2017) QAMANI'TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
Muskox, 1984stone, 3.5 x 9 x 4 in (8.9 x 22.9 x 10.2 cm)
signed and dated, "ᐊᑲᓇᓱᐊ / 1984".
Lot 73
ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500
PRICE REALIZED: $2,400.00Further images
While some artists have avoided being known for one particular subject or style, others, whether by design or by default, have become renowned for one subject above all others. Despite...While some artists have avoided being known for one particular subject or style, others, whether by design or by default, have become renowned for one subject above all others. Despite having produced numerous stellar sculptures representing Inuit hunters and mothers with children, the Barnabus name has become synonymous with his portrayals of muskoxen.
In the spring and summer when there are tourists, they come to my house and ask me to make a sculpture. When I ask what they want, they always ask me to make musk ox. [1]
Having produced his signature muskoxen for almost 50 years, Barnabus somehow managed to avoid them being formulaic. This wonderful example features an unusually smooth and well finished body devoid of either finely chiseled or hastily slashed guard hairs. This beauty is as lovely to the hand as it is to the eye!
1. Artist quote in Susan Gustavison, Northern Rock: Contemporary Inuit Stone Sculpture (McMichael Canadian Collection, 1999), p. 109.
Provenance
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.
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