Lot 74
ENNUTSIAK, FROBISHER BAY/IQALUIT
Additional Images
Provenance:
A farewell gift to an RCMP Superintendent and his wife in 1963, who were stationed in Iqaluit for three years.
Note:
One of the top selling Inuit artists, Ennutsiak is defined by his sketch-like carving style and for creating small tableaus of Inuit life. Ennutsiak spent most of his life on the land in the days prior to settlements. He created these narrative and often intimate scenes of normal everyday life prior to his death in 1967. Whether portraying birthing scenes, nomadic life or children playing a game of leap frog, his carvings always convey a sense of community. This is perhaps why his works have achieved unprecedented price levels such as his Family Playing Musical Instruments sculpture from Waddington’s fall 2009 auction which sold for $54,000 and his Migration which fetched $86,250 in Waddington’s fall 2011 auction. His carvings reside in the Canadian Museum of History (Civilization), the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada and in many publications and prominent private collections.