Lot 205
John Pangnark ᔭᓐ ᐸᓇ (1920-1980)
Lot 205 Details
John Pangnark ᔭᓐ ᐸᓇ (1920-1980), Arviat (Eskimo Point)
FIGURE, CA. 1968
stone
unsigned; inscribed "s-68"; accompanied by scans of the original invoice from The Snow Goose Gallery, and of a Canadian Arctic Producers Limited declaration, both dated 1975
6.5 x 5 x 3.5 in — 16.5 x 12.7 x 8.9 cm
Estimate $8,000-$12,000
Additional Images
Provenance:
The Snow Goose Gallery, Ottawa, ON, 1974
Private Collection, Charlottesville, VA
Exhibited:
Inuit Art from the Canadian Arctic, Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1994
Note:
The first documented sculptures by John Pangnark, while abstract, have readily identifiable anatomical elements, a characteristic that would recede in later works, subsumed by an increasing degree of abstraction and confidence in line and volume. The present sculpture made ca. 1968 is an uncommon example of his earlier period and shows a more developed figuration.
The two arms of the figure are readily identifiable, and stretch outward from the figure. The face is a whisper of finely-etched lines, and as elsewhere in Pangnark’s sculptures, the apparently closed eyes and mouth seem to betray a calm, delicate smile.
The present sculpture, exhibited in Inuit Art from the Canadian Arctic, at the Bayly Art Museum at the University of Virginia in 1994, is available for the first time since it was sold at Snow Goose Gallery in Ottawa, to the previous owner in 1974.