Additional Images

Provenance:

The Chair House Gallery of Folk Art, San Francisco, CA, 1975;
Fred and Laura Reif Collection of Inuit Art, Berkeley, CA

Note:

A complex and many-faceted figure, Peter Pitseolak was an important and powerful camp leader in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), once described by James Houston as “the most interesting man on the coast.” [1.] Pitseolak is primarily remembered today for his early attempts at documenting the changing Inuit culture through a series of photographs taken by the artist from the 1940s to the 1960s. Pitseolak is also known for his many prints, and late in life, a series of recordings and written testimonials about Inuit culture. Unknown to many, Pitseolak was also a technically skilled and ambitious carver. In 1955, along with fellow sculptor Osuitok Ipeeleee, Pitseolak was commissioned by the Crown to create a mace symbolic of legislative authority in the Northwest Territories for use in the House of Commons—an early and important recognition of Inuit arts. [2.]

We are pleased to present three rare sculptural works by Pitseolak (lots 10, 11, and 79).

This sculpture (lot 79) is accompanied by an original invoice, 1975.

References:

1. Eber, Dorothy Harley. Images of Justice. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2005. p. 79

2. Crandall, Richard C. Inuit Art A History. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company. 111-112