Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Beverly Hills, CA

Note:

A heavyweight among Pauta’s bears, this sculpture reaches a height of over 21 inches—among the largest sold at Waddington’s. The artist was renowned for the simplified lines and pleasing sense of proportion in his work, well exemplified here.

Though the artist revisited the theme of Dancing Bears often, each iteration possesses its own individual character. Some impress with their width, verve, or the looseness of their motion. This particular bear is lithe and tightly coiled, as if preparing for the dance rather than in full frolic.

Like his audience, Pauta clearly enjoyed the various nuances of his creations, explaining:

“I carve bears with longer and shorter necks, some that are fat or lean. They are in different positions because bears are always doing something. Sudden moves are possible with shorter necks. Polar bears are like human beings. If they are not distracted they can see better, even when they move fast…I like to carve what I feel, not merely what I see. It is the feeling that goes along with whatever one is doing. I also think about the material, the stone. I like to think how to carve it so that it does not break. I do what the Creator wants me to do, not merely by seeing but by feeling too. Carving is very different from making a photograph. I think and feel that the bear has a spirit to be put into the carving. But each person has different thoughts when he is carving.

Today I am not worrying about making an amulet or a charm. I have to be pleased with what I am doing as does the person who is asking for the carving. I have to please myself and the buyer. At times I feel like keeping some of my carvings. In fact I have even said good-bye to some.”

References:
Bernadette Driscoll, Uumajut, Animal Imagery in Inuit Art, (Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1985), p. 46

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