Inuit master carver’s muskox creation sells for $84K
This carving of a muskox by Barnabus Arnasungaaq fetched $84,000 during a live auction by First Arts in Toronto held on July 12. Fine Arts says it believes that price is a record for the artist at auction. Arnasungaaq, who carved his works with an axe and file from hard black stone found near his hometown of Baker Lake, was known for his minimalist style of carving without many surface details. He died in 2017 at the age of 93. (Photo courtesy of First Arts. Photo by Dieter Hessel)
FYI Joe Talliqunilik of Puvirnituq had his soap stone carving “Umiaq” sell for $285,000.00 some years back. It is still the highest selling soap stone carving to date.
The value we attach to things is a wonder of the human psyche. It’s unavoidable, but it always seems a bit sad to me that art seems to appreciate in value so much more when an artist passes on. It is what it is, no more supply perhaps, an appreciation for a truly good artist. Someday we may see these works selling in the millions.
Very true sir !
When Vincent Van Goch died in Holland, all he had left to eat,
was a few scraps of mouldy bread & cheese. Some of his
paintings have now sold for over 30 million dollars.
My friend got 900 dollars for his carving of a shaman doing
a drum dance, it sold for 15,000 dollars in San Francisco,
about a year later. This was 40 years ago.
Art is the way of art.