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Artworks
TOONOO SHARKY (1970-) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Fish, 1997stone, 6 x 11.5 x 2 in (15.2 x 29.2 x 5.1 cm)
signed and dated, "ᑐᓄ ᓴᑭ / 1997".LOT 74
ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500
PRICE REALIZED: $5,124.00
9 June 2025Further images
Apart from some wonderful examples by the great Sheokjuk Oqutaq (1920-1982), Inuit carvings of fish are frequently generic and unexciting. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, “a fish is a fish is...Apart from some wonderful examples by the great Sheokjuk Oqutaq (1920-1982), Inuit carvings of fish are frequently generic and unexciting. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, “a fish is a fish is a fish,” except, of course, when it isn’t. This exceptional sculpture by Toonoo elevates the mundane to the magnificent. The artist has exercised the same care and precision that we see in the best of his avian compositions. We love how the subtly mottled serpentine stone mimics the speckled appearance of fish skin.
References: For an impressive Bird of Prey by the artist see First Arts, 5 Dec. 2022, Lot 28. For other fine works by the artist see Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Phoenix: Heard Museum, 2006), cat. 71 (see text); Derek Norton and Nigel Reading, Cape Dorset Sculpture, (Vancouver: Douglas and McIntrye, 2005), p. 76. See the article on the artist by Jessica Tomic-Bagshaw, “Contemporary Artist: Toonoo Sharky” in Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3, Fall 2001, pp. 4-6.Provenance
Private Collection, Nova Scotia.
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