Inuit art: Shaman with Totem
Inuit Artist: Bart Hanna
Size: 30" tall (includes 16" Ivory Totum poll), 15" wide, 9" deep, 60.6 lbs
Community: Iqaluit, NU 11/21
Stone: Marble / Ivory
id: caps-818001314gjjjy
** This item is Eligible for Our 0% Interest Layaway Plan
***U.S. buyers cannot purchase this piece due to ivory restrictions from Canadian Government Customs. We ship only to a Canadian address.
CURATOR'S CHOICE
There are times in life when you immediately know you are in the presence of something or somebody extraordinary.
When you see Bart Hanna's Bird's Eye View, you know that you have encountered genius. For this reason, I had to make Bart's Shaman with Totem a CURATOR'S CHOICE.
Masterpiece Sculpture! Museum quality Carving!
Start with the brilliantly carved totem.
There are at least 5 stunning carvings in this piece. Each carving easily be a magnificent stand alone sculpture!
The precise workmanship and Bart's imagination are spectacular.
In the last decade, Bart Hanna has become an international superstar and an elite Master Carver.
Finding a Bart Hanna sculpture of this caliber is almost impossible.
"Of this caliber" is the operative phrase.
What I believe about this piece is that Bart is asking the viewer to consider where art "started".
Can we find a relationship between art from the antiquities and contemporary art.
Clash of the Titans depicts the clash between Ancient and Modern Art.
Abraham Ruben and Jonasie Faber also explore this subject in their carvings.
We often see the influence of the ancient Vikings and Thules (forefathers of the Inuit) on the sculptures of Ruben and Faber.
When I saw this carving for the first time, I immediately realized that Hanna had drawn upon Classical Greek art to imagine this piece.
Classical features usually include male subjects, prominent muscles, anonymous and blank faces. The eyes usually stare and do not make contact with the viewer. The face is symmetrical.
Our face has the blank, symmetrical, and staring eyes.
The facial features appear Caucasian; long, narrow, angular nose, cherubic lips, square chin.
The totem headpiece is strictly Inuit. The exquisite embroidery of the ivory tusk includes walrus brandishing tiny, menacing tusks. The male head is decidedly Inuit with his angled eyes, wide nose and prominent lips.
This is a piece of art paying tribute to two ancient cultures.
This is why I think this sculpture is so unusual.
Would you agree the combination of the two cultures is unprecedented?
You are unlikely to see another piece like this again. Unless it comes from Bart Hanna.
Can you imagine this treasure in your collection? Prepare to have many discussions around this quiet and contemplative figure.
Bart Hanna is part of a small elite circle of Inuit Master Carvers because of his trailblazing talent and ingenuity.
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