Additional Images

Provenance:

S. Family Collection, Toronto, ON

Note:

Few sculptors have been able to capture fluidity of posture or richness of anatomical detail with the apparent confidence and ease of Davie Atchealak. One of the great sculptors to come out of southern Baffin Island, Atchealak is much renowned, particularly for his expertly engineered dancing bears, and his exuberant, muscular shamans.

Atchealak’s seemingly effortless engineering and expert use of cantilever is on marvellous display in this particularly large iteration of his iconic dancing bears. The sculpture is finished in a lustrous high polish, and shows considerable fine detail, signature characteristics of Atchealak.

About the Collectors

Dancing Bear is one of eighteen works in the present auction from a pioneering and important Toronto collection of Inuit art, the S. Family Collection.

Distinguished by its remarkable diversity and uniformly high quality, the collection was built on over fifty years of dedication. Acquisitions were made both from the leading dealers and private collectors of the period, as well as directly from artists during several excursions to the north, including to Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake), and Arviat.

Although the S. Family organized a handful of exhibitions specializing in sculpture, many artworks from their personal collection have remained largely unknown to the collector community.