Lot 141
Osuitok Ipeelee ᐅᓱᐃᑐ ᐃᐱᓕ, RCA (1923-2005)
Additional Images
Provenance:
Red Pedersen Collection, acquired directly from the artist;
Waddington's Auctioneers, Toronto, ON, 15 Dec 1981, lot 451P;
Private Collection, Toronto, ON
Literature:
Northern Heritage Native Art, The Pedersen Collection, n.d.
Waddington’s Auctioneers, An Important Sale of Inuit Art, (Toronto: Spectrum Print Associates, 1981), 7
Note:
An important and monumental sculpture by Osuitok Ipeelee, Musk Ox was acquired directly from the artist circa 1967 by collector and public servant Asger Rye "Red" Pedersen (b. 1935). Sold once at auction in 1981, it has since been held in a significant private Toronto collection.
Speaking of the sculpture in the Northern Heritage Native Art publication The Pedersen Collection, the author recalls of the work, “I don’t know what it is, but this is no ordinary stone— it’s very heavy and very hard. Oshoweetok worked it with a mallet and chisel and then polished it, to create one of the most powerful carvings of a muskox I have ever seen.” (1)
Reminiscent in its weight and presence to the artist’s 1958 print of the same name, it is one of Osuitok’s most intriguingly unique treatments of the subject in sculpture.
Of Pedersen, in 1981 James Houston said: “He was in an excellent position to purchase some splendid carvings and prints during those vintage times and Red had the taste and drive to do so. He acquired some truly remarkable carvings from some of the most famous artists, not only in Cape Dorset, but later at Coppermine, Holman Island and other Inuit areas where he served as a Civil Administrator.
Several years ago I had a chance to view the many important items in Red’s collection. I was delighted with the quality which gave me the strongest feelings of nostalgia, for although Inuit art is very much ongoing, Red Pedersen’s particular collection, like the period pieces of Emily Carr or the Canadian Group of Seven, will never be created again.”
1. Waddington’s Auctioneers, An Important Sale of Inuit Art, (Toronto: Spectrum Print Associates, 1981), 7