Growing Recognition of Art from the Arctic
Hrag Vartanian of Hyperallergic commends Donald Ellis Gallery for contributing to the growing recognition of art from the North American Arctic
Views
Human Head
Okvik
Bering Sea, Alaska
Bering Sea, Alaska
200 BCE - 100 CE
marine mammal ivory
height: 2 ½"
Inventory # CE4278
Please contact the gallery for more information.
PROVENANCE
Reportedly excavated 2008
The George Terasaki Collection, New York, NY
Donald Ellis Gallery, New York, NY
Private collection, Toronto, ON
Published
Donald Ellis Gallery catalogue, 2012, pl. 15
Related Examples
Ancient Eskimo Ivories of the Bering Strait, Wardwell, Hudson Hills Press, New York, 1986, pg. 46, pls. 22 and 24, pg. 47, pl. 25 and pg. 51, pl. 35 (heads) and for a group of full figures pg. 37, pl. 2, pg. 38, pl. 3, pg. 40, pl. 9, pg. 41, pls. 12 and 13, pg. 42, pl. 15 and pg. 52, pl. 37
The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas – See: La Rime et La Raison, Ministere de la Culture (France), Editions de la Reunion des Musees Nationaux, Paris, 1984, pg. 214, Cat. No. 265
Sotheby’s, NY, May 17, 2007, lot 73
Two thousand years ago, from approximately 200 BCE to 100 CE, a group of early Inuit people lived in a few small coastal villages on St. Lawrence Island and the neighboring Punuk Islands in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. This period, commonly known today as the Okvik period or style, is generally considered to be the earliest of the three Old Bering Sea phases.
Although the Arctic climate of the Bering Strait was harsh, food was plentiful. Large numbers of fish and sea mammals were readily available, and as a result, the Okvik were able to develop a rich artistic tradition. Their skilled hunting abilities provided large quantities of walrus ivory, prized for its workability and beauty. Using stone age technology, this dense, hard material was fashioned into utilitarian implements, as well as a small group of mysterious objects now considered icons of indigenous art.
Featured in the Press
Related Exhibitions
