One of the most distinctive talents in circumpolar art, Karoo Ashevak’s small body of work has had an outsized impact for a career that only lasted five years.
His untimely death in a fire at the age of 34 brought an abrupt end to a surge of creative output that continues to draw interest and admiration from both Canadian and international audiences.
Karoo was born and worked in the Canadian high north of Taloyoak (Spence Bay) developing a style that fused his unique vision of dreams, spirituality, and shamanism with his exceptional artistic talents and attention to surface and material.
Karoo chose the material for his sculptures carefully. The artist benefited from a relative abundance of time-cured whalebone deposited on the land by 19th century whalers, and also in ancient middens and dwelling sites long pre-dating Europeans arrival in the Arctic.[1]
The present work undeniably ranks among Karoo’s great expressions, and is one of two masterworks purchased and sold by Makler Gallery of Philadelphia in 1973 (the other, Drummersold at Waddington’s in December 2021).*
Makler, one of the great pioneering galleries of Philadelphia in the 20th century, represented artists including Alexander Calder, Milton Avery, Anselm Keifer, Jacques Lipchitz and the Cobra Group among others.[2]
Notably of the two works by Karoo selected by Makler, both are cut from a point of intersection in the whalebone in which a distinctive pattern of scattershot channels in the bone emanate. The channels, which once carried the blood of the whale to its extremities have been located by Karoo in the head of Drummer, and in the left shoulder of Spirit. The feature brings a distinct directionality to the compositions, echoed in the asymmetry of the figures.
In the present work, particularly the curvature of its horn, and its small arm carved in relief, all of which masterfully draw the eye outward to the imposing weight of the figure’s oversized right hand. As elsewhere in Karoo’s work, the porosity of the whalebone itself, is suggestive of the immaterial character of the shaman’s domain.[3]
*https://www.waddingtons.ca/auction/inuit-art-dec-09-2021/gallery/lot/152/
[1] Pamela Harris, Karoo Ashevak Spirits (New York: American Indian Arts Center, 1973), unpaged.
[2] Paul Makler et al., “Pioneering Art in the 1960s: Philadelphia”, Sloughtart, April 6 2005.
https://slought.org/resources/pioneering_art
[3] Jean Blodgett, Karoo Ashevak (Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1977), unpaged.
ABOUT THE AUCTION
This major auction of important Inuit art includes selections from the collection of former Northwest Territories Arts and Crafts Development Officer David Sutherland, the complete collection of prints by Parr, assembled for the 1979 Parr retrospective, and significant works by Marion Tuu’luq, Karoo Ashevak, John Pangnark, Judas Ullulaq, Osuitok Ipeelee, Pauta Saila, Kenojuak Ashevak, Pudlo Pudlat, Joe Kiloonik, Oviloo Tunnillie, and others.
The auction is offered online May 8 – 29, 2025.
You must be registered to bid in this auction. Please register here.
PUBLIC PREVIEWS
Previews at our Toronto gallery located at 100 Broadview Avenue, are available:
Wednesday, May 21 from 10 am to 7 pm
Thursday, May 22 from 10 am to 5 pm
Friday, May 23 from 10 am to 5 pm
Saturday, May 24 from 12 pm to 4 pm
Sunday, May 25 from 12 pm to 4 pm
Monday, May 26 from 10 am to 5 pm
Tuesday, May 27 from 10 am to 5 pm
Wednesday, May 28 from 10 am to 5 pm
Thursday, May 29 from 10 am to 12 pm
Or by appointment.
Contact us to find out more.
