Additional Images

Provenance:

Inuvik Sewing/Craft Shop (Rehabilitation Centre), Inuvik, NWT, mid 1960s
The Collection of David Sutherland, Victoria, BC

Note:

Although mid-20th century carving initiatives in the Canadian Arctic developed amidst considerable experimentation in the early years, sculpting in wood seems to have been largely discouraged by those purchasing from the artists, in favour of works made from indigenous stone. Further West, artists more often worked in wood, continuing a long tradition of carving wood provided by traders, or carried into Arctic waters by Kamchatka and Alaskan ocean currents.

Surviving Inuit wooden sculptures from the early to mid-20th century are not always readily recognizable as the work of Inuit artists, unless like the present example, their collection provenance is recorded.

Hunter, Dog and Bear, is one of over 20 exceptional works in the present auction from the important lifetime collection of former Northwest Territories Arts and Crafts Development Officer David Sutherland.

An artist in his own right, and former student of the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr Institute), Sutherland developed a lifelong passion for Inuit art, and was an outspoken advocate and author on all matters Inuit, in addition to his role for over 20 years as Northwest Territories Arts and Crafts Development Officer.

Sutherland and his wife Aiko were popular residents in the various locations in which they were posted, including Inuvik, Churchill, and Yellowknife. Successful in his work, he had to decline promotions to be able to stay in the Arctic, where he continued to develop artists’ facilities into environments of creativity and self-discipline—values not reinforced by all of Sutherland’s predecessors.

Sutherland’s work brought him into intimate contact with important artists who he continued to champion after his retirement from his post in 1986, including Marion Tuu'luq, Janet Kigusiuq, John Pangnark, Lucy Tasseor Tutsweetok, John Kavik, Andy Miki, Luke Iksiktaaryuk, Mathew Aqigaaq and countless others. An avid collector, Sutherland also purchased works, primarily from the Miqsuvik Sewing Shop, and other craft stores in the communities in which he served.

Gunther Abrahamson, “David Sutherland (1931-2004)”, Inuit Art Quarterly. Vol. 20. No. 1, spring, 2025, 43.
Marie Bouchard, Marion Tuu’luq (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2002), 100.