Standing Caribou: Osuitok Ipeelee ᐅᓱᐃᑐ ᐃᐱᓕ

A great collection is rarely the work of a single individual. It is through the many intersections with collectors, dealers, scholars and auction houses that items accumulate histories beyond their origins, telling stories of connoisseurship, discovery, and geography. Join us in a look at the fourth featured lot with exceptional provenance in our Major auction of Inuit Art.

All of Osuitok’s caribou are feats of engineering, but none more so than the gracefully rearing iterations. Extreme examples of balance and precision, their gravity-defying compositions express an elegance found by Osuitok in his subject.

Though the base of the sculpture looks minuscule in proportion to the large body above, it is stable and compositionally in visual balance. Lot 253 in the current auction is an exceptional example.

Through the 1950s and later, Osuitok was his community’s “keeper of the carving stone,” leading the expeditions to quarry materials in the summer months when the ground had thawed sufficiently. In guiding other artists when selecting stone, he came to understand the way the material fractures and breaks. That intimate knowledge of the stone assisted him in his ability to carve his caribou with finesse and equilibrium.

Of his process Osuitok explained: When I’m doing a caribou, I first make the outline of the animal starting with the muzzle, the nose, and then I work my way down to the body. Then I work on the leg areas. The standing caribou are more difficult than the kneeling ones. I work with files when I am doing the legs and ears. The ears are the last thing I do because they tend to break off. So I finish with those.

I don’t use the grinder to make the form because sometimes there are areas that you tend to cut into too deeply, something you’re not supposed to do. I prefer to use an axe and a saw. Also I use files that you use for steel (rasps) and then I switch to files for the finer work.

For balancing I make sure the base is smooth and flat so that the caribou doesn’t tip to the front or side. I just make sure that the bottom of the hooves is perfectly level. I use a level like carpenters use in construction work. I make sure the base is a little bit thick before I start to get it level.[1]

[1] Susan Gustavison, Northern Rock Contemporary Inuit Stone Sculpture (Kleinburg: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1999), 64.

The present work was acquired directly from Osuitok by the consignors. Osuitok favoured the lucrative practice of carving directly for clients, as was the case with many of his contemporaries. Well-liked clients received favourable selections of stone, and benefited from special attention to detail directed to the artworks they received.

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist, Kinngait, NU, 1996
An Important Two-Generation Private Collection

ABOUT THE AUCTION

Highlights of our 2026 major fall auction of Inuit Art include major works by Abraham Etungat, Osuitok Ipeelee, Henry Evaluardjuk, Pudlo Pudlat, Tudlik, Niviaxie, Kenojuak Ashevak, Barnabus Arnasungaaq, Lukta Qiatsuk, Ningiukulu Teevee, Pitaloosie Saila, Kananginak Pootoogook, and John Kavik. Also included is a small collection of ancient Arctic ivories.

Browse the gallery online.

On view at our Toronto gallery:

Saturday, November 14 from 12 pm to 4 pm
Sunday, November 15 from 12 pm to 4 pm
Monday, November 16 from 10 am to 5 pm
Tuesday, November 17 from 10 am to 7 pm
Wednesday, November 18 from 10 am to 5 pm

Or by appointment.

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