A Luke Anowtalik sculpture, The Caribou SpiritLuke AnowtalikInuit, Eskimo Point/Arviat, (1932-2006), "The Caribou Spirit," a carved stone sculpture with antlers, figural group with man and deer, signed in syllabics on the underside, possibly restored. without antlers: height 19, depth 8inLuke Anowtalik, who often worked closely with his wife, Mary Ayaq Anowtalik (b. 1938) was well-known for minimalist-leaning figural and animal compositions that illustrate the highly linear, modernist Aarviat sensibility. The present example evinces Anowtalik's common use of "a principal figure to depict the centrality of the main image and the interdependence of the various other elements [in this case, a human face] chiseled into the stone in low relief." The caribou was a motif Anowtalik returned to often, and with the addition of human elements, "personifi[ed] the supportive and nurturing essence of this noble creature" (Zepp).ProvenancePurchased at Alaska Shop Gallery of Eskimo Art, New York, NY, December 7, 1999, titled per the invoice; a copy of the invoice accompanies the lotThe Wendy and Les Fisher Collection of Canadian Inuit Sculpture, Chicago, IL