Soapstone carving fetches record $278,000

JOHN THOMPSON

A carving by the late Joe Talirunili, a renowned Puvurnituq artist, sold at auction on May 1 for $278,500, a price that’s believed to set new records for Inuit art.

Talirunili, who died in 1976, made many soapstone carvings in the same theme as the carving that sold last Monday in Toronto. It’s titled The Migration, and known popularly as one of 25 to 30 “Joe boats.”

But while most of Talirunili’s boat carvings portrayed people, this one contains animals: An owl and a dog or wolf sit at the helm, with eight Arctic hares paddling behind them.

Some say The Migration works represent a dramatic escape from an ice floe by Talirunili’s family when the artist was a young child. Others say it represents a tragedy when a boat sank and many adults died, scarring Talirunili.

In any case, the excellent condition of the carving, the fact that it dates back to an early period of the artist’s career, its uniqueness and “whimsical” character all added up to something extraordinary, according to Duncan McLean, an Inuit art specialist at Waddington’s auction house where the carving was sold.

What’s more, each character in the boat is so expressive, “you could identify with each one.”

“It was a great piece. It had everything in it you’d want,” he said.

This isn’t the first time a Joe boat beat the standing record for the price of Inuit art. In late 2001, another carving of The Migration sold for $87,500, setting a record for Inuit carvings at the time.

As for the boat filled with animals, McLean said he expected the carving to fetch between $70,000 and $80,000 – $100,000 at the most.

“I don’t think anyone expected the amount the piece got,” he said.

McLean predicts that last week’s sale will help drive up the price of other high-end Inuit carvings. “It sets a new benchmark,” he said.

The sale could also help attract a different kind of art collector – the type who want to spend more money.

McLean said some collectors only purchase art that’s worth a certain value, such as $40,000. As Inuit art continues to sell for more money, these high rollers become more interested in purchasing it themselves, he said.

“It shows development,” he said.

Before the auction, the carving sat on the vendor’s coffee table for 40 years.

Talirunili was born between 1893 and 1906. He died on Sept. 13, 1976. He helped found the Puvirnituq print shop.

Talirunili’s carvings are worth far more than when the artist was alive, and the Inuit art market was still in its infancy.

“It’s not so much because Joe’s dead. It’s that it’s an early piece,” McLean said. “It’s the best we’ve seen him make.”