JOE TALIRUNILI (1893-1976)
JOE’S ESCAPE
c. 1970, signed in Roman
4.5" x 7.5" x 2.5" — 11.4 x 19.1 x 6.4 cm.
November 16, 2015
Estimate $20,000-$30,000
Realised: $163,500
Price Realised: $163,500
A diminutive sculpture by legendary Inuit artist Joe Talirunili titled Joe’s Escape, sold for $163,500 at Waddington’s in Toronto on November 16.
The highest price for Inuit Art achieved at auction in 2015, Joe’s Escape joins the ranks of numerous record-setting prices for Inuit Art set by Waddington’s over its 35 years in the Inuit Art market.
In the market Talirunili ranks second to Bill Reid, and outperforms most Canadian sculptors. Joe also enjoys a great deal of international interest.
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Waddington’s is internationally recognized as one of the leading authorities in marketing Inuit Art. No other auction house has been as intrinsically linked to the development of a market for this art form. From our first landmark auction in 1978 of the William Eccles Collection, Waddington’s has offered thousands of works, set record prices, and expanded the market well beyond Canada’s borders. Our legacy of successful Inuit Art auctions, our ability to achieve continually increasing values and our creation of an international market have been key factors in validating Inuit art as a whole and establishing it as an integral part of the Canadian Art scene.