As mentioned in the preceding lot, Karoo Ashevak moved to the settlement of Taloyoak (Spence Bay) in 1968 after following a nomadic hunting life. Shortly after his arrival, he joined a government-funded arts program that was trying to stimulate local production. As stone was scarce in the community, whale bones were flown into the community for artists to carve. While Karoo eventually turned to whale bone as his primary medium, he often used small pieces of stone for inlaid elements such as eyes or teeth. Out of an estimated production of approximately 250 sculptures, there are only a handful where stone is the primary material.

Karoo’s earliest sculptures, made between 1968 and 1970, remain imperfectly documented. A small group of largely unsigned whale bone carvings, including abstracted birds and more naturalistic polar bears, has been attributed to him. He emerged dramatically in 1970, when two of his sculptures were entered in the Yellowknife Centennial competition organized by the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council: Drum Dancer received an honourable mention, and Bird took third place. From there, Karoo’s rise was swift, with at least four solo exhibitions before his tragic death in a house fire in 1974.

Alert Bird is strikingly close stylistically to Karoo’s Bird from the Centennial Competition [1]; there are numerous stylistic similarities in both the eyes and the wings. While a sculptor must work with the natural shape of a bone, working with hard stone presents another set of challenges. It is not inconceivable that these two magnificent birds are contemporaneous and by the same hand.

1. Maria von Finckenstein ed., Celebrating Inuit Art 1948-1970, (Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1999, p. 183.

References: For additional information on Karoo Ashevak, see Jean Blodgett's landmark retrospective show and catalogue Karoo Ashevak, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1977). American Indian Arts Center, Karoo Ashevak: Spirits, (New York: American Indian Arts Center, 1973); Gerald McMaster, ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), pp. 118-119; Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / New York: Harry Abrams / London: British Museum Press, 1998), figs. 89-90, pp. 111-112; First Arts Auction, 5 December 2022, Lot 100.

MBL