Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Hamilton, ON

Note:

In the 1976 publication The Inuit Artists of Sugluk, P.Q., author Barry A. Roberts describes Lucassie Usaitaijuk as a “dignified, gentlemanly figure who carved until his death in 1962. His pieces were often small, almost miniature and not always signed.” (1) Roberts makes reference to published examples by the artist, but little is known about the sculptor who carved this small, lively masterpiece.

The 1950s and early 1960s saw a brief but remarkable flowering of art production in Salluit. Artists developed a highly distinctive formal style, which despite the poor quality stone found in the region, includes many of the great early achievements in twentieth century Inuit sculpture. Notable characteristics of Salluit sculpture are a monumentality, and emphasis on static figuration. Usaitaijuk seems to have challenged the norm with the lifelike postures in this sculpture. There is a palpable air of reassurance from the father, and a seeming hesitance in the bent-kneed child.

1. Barry A. Roberts, The Inuit Artists of Sugluk, P.Q., (Quebec: FCNQ, 1976), 59