This fine and very early Cape Dorset sculpture is the work of Toonoo. Toonoo was admired as a gifted sculptor, but he was never prolific. Standing Man is stylistically very similar to another figure by the artist in the Sarick Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario [1]. The parka design is also quite similar, and even the stone type is the same. Several Kinngait artists tried carving this rather tricky material in the early to mid 1950s. We love the archaic aura of this work; it looks not merely old, but positively ancient. Interestingly, Toonoo was the father of Oviloo Tunnillie, Jutai Toonoo, and Sam Toonoo, all talented artists, and husband of the graphic artist Sheojuke Toonoo [2].

1. See Gerald McMaster ed., Inuit Modern, (Toronto: AGO, 2010), p. 67.

2. See the Feheley Fine Arts catalogue, Toonoo’s Legacy, (Toronto, Feheley Fine Arts, 2002).