Lot 100
SAMSON NASTAPOKA (1931-) INUKJUAK (PORT HARRISON)
Mother and Child, Cutting Up a Fish, c. 1960
stone, 11.5 x 8 x 11 in (29.2 x 20.3 x 27.9 cm)
signed with artist's disc number "E9 1712" and "ᓴᒥᓴ".
ESTIMATE: $4,000— $6,000
PRICE REALIZED: $4,320
Provenance
A Montreal Collection.
Samson Nastapoka was born at Abraham Nastapoka's camp near Inukjuak. The natural son of Allakariallak, the man who had portrayed Nanook in the famous 1922 silent docudrama Nanook of the North, he was adopted by Nastapoka. Samson Nastapoka was a relatively prolific carver, although he spent a good bit of time hunting and also worked in construction.
Mother and Child, Cutting Up a Fish is the most beautiful and impressive work we have seen by this artist. Typical for sculpture from this period in Inukjuak art, this large composition is compact in overall appearance but well formed and full of well-executed and charming realistic detail. We are especially drawn to the faces of the mother and child. The broad, beatific face of the mother is dominated by her large staring eyes, reminding us of the contemporaneous work of Samson's adoptive parents Abraham and Sarah Nastapoka (see Lot 102), but also of fellow Inukjuak sculptor Abraham P.O.V., known for the haunting quality of his subjects' faces. In contrast, the child is shown with a tiny head and face, munching on a morsel of fish. Beautiful.