Because he spent so much of his career working at the Kinngait printmaking studios, Pitseolak Niviaqsi was never a prolific sculptor. It must be said, however, that at his best he displayed a skill and genius rivaling that of the great Cape Dorset sculptors Osuitok Ipeelee and Lukta Qiatsuq. It is not surprising that in a community filled with such amazing carving talent, artists might occasionally look over their shoulders to see what the competition was up to. This impressive Caribou and Young reminds us of Osuitok’s Rearing Caribou with Nursing Calf of 1994 (see First Arts, 5 December 2022, Lot 43). Pitseolak in fact tried his own version of that very subject, [1] but here he has created a captivating scene in which mother and calf playfully dance together. Pitseolak displays a masterful manipulation of stone and superb finishing, but also reveals his personal artistic flair and his love of family. Caribou and Young beautifully exemplifies the ambitious, theatrical, and elegant Kinngait sculptural aesthetic.

1. See Spirit Wrestler Gallery, The Lyrical World of Pitseolak Niviaqsi, (Vancouver: Spirit Wrestler Gallery, 2001), cat. 9.

References: 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. 181; First Arts, May 2019, Lot 58; First Arts, 5 December 2022, Lot 29; First Arts, 4 December 2023, Lot 70; First Arts, 14 June 2022, Lot 108; Walker’s Auctions, May 2016, Lot 139.