First Arts

Join us as we celebrate our first major auction at our new home on Queen Street East 🥂 Our upcoming Live Auction of Inuit and First Nations Art will take place on Monday, 1 June 2026 at 7:00 PM ET, presented from our new Toronto location at 300-550 Queen Street East To mark this exciting new chapter for First Arts, we warmly invite you to join us for a gathering following our preview exhibition on Friday, May 29th from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Food and drinks will be served 🔗 RSVP is required at the link in bio or by calling 416-560-6348

Now live ✨📖 The PDF catalogue and online gallery for our June 1, 2026 at 7 PM auction are now available at the link in our bio! We invite you to explore the sale in full, browse the works in detail, and contact us with any questions as you prepare for bidding. 📧 [email protected] | ☎️ 647-286-5012

We have moved! 📍 You can now find us at 550 Queen Street East, Suite 300. 🎉 We’re settling in and preparing our galleries for a January online auction, and we’d love to welcome you in. Drop by during regular hours or book an appointment. We are also now accepting consignments for our 2026 season of auctions and exhibitions. With team members in Toronto, Vancouver, and the Montreal area, we can arrange a complimentary, no-obligation visit, or review photos by email. 📞 647-286-5012 |  ✉️ [email protected]

🔦Spotlight: Inuit & First Nations Art | Monday 1 June 2026 at 7:00 PM ET🔦 Nadine highlights strong examples of Haida made argillite and silver in our upcoming June 1 Live Auction. ⚒️ Though materially different both hold deep importance within Northwest Coast artistic practice and demand extraordinary fluency of hand. ⚓ Lot 57 | Ship Panel Pipe, c. 1840-1860s Ship panel pipes are among the great early forms of Haida argillite carving, bringing together ship architecture, Euro-American figures, Western ornament, and Haida design in a compact, highly worked form. This fine early example shows the medium at its best: carved figures, rope borders, floral motifs, and remarkable narrative density all held within a single small work. 🫍Lot 24 | Bill Reid, Skana (Killer Whale) Brooch This fine, early sterling silver brooch reveals the jeweller’s hand at its sharpest: crisp control of line, elegant balance of form and surface, and the confidence with which the killer whale image is carried across silver. Its connection to Christie Harris and “Raven’s Cry” adds further significance. 🌊 Lot 58 | Christian White, Waasgo and the Lazy Son-in-Law Made when White was just twenty-seven, this early argillite carving is an impressive demonstration of technical confidence. Drawing on the story of the Lazy Son-in-Law, the supernatural Waasgo guards its prey while Halibut, Sea Lion, and Killer Whales are ingeniously incorporated into the composition. The control of form is especially striking. 🔥 Lot 23 | Robert Davidson, Zippo Lighter with Dogfish Design This engraved silver Zippo lighter belongs to an early period in Davidson’s career, already showing the precision and formal assurance that would define his work. The Dogfish design moves across both sides of the lighter with controlled engraving and elegant balance, transforming an intimate object into a remarkably expansive surface. 🔗 Browse the full June 1st auction gallery at the link in our bio. 🥂 There’s still time to RSVP for our Welcome Reception on 29 May, 5-7 PM at 300–550 Queen Street East, Toronto. Register to join us at the link our bio!

Spotlight: Inuit & First Nations Art | Monday, June 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET For this selection from our June 1 auction, Nadine considers works that feel at once familiar and unexpected. Each is rooted in the hand and vision of its maker, in the subjects, forms, and ways of working that have made these artists so admired. Yet each also offers something rare: a shift in medium, mood, scale, or invention. View the auction catalogue at the link in our bio 🔗🔗🔗 🧵 Before Pitseolak Ashoona’s pictorial imagination found its fullest expression on paper, it was already alive in cloth. Rare, early, and unmistakably hers, this textile shows her graphic language beginning to take form in thread. 👨‍👧 Tender and unusually intimate, this father and child sculpture offers a rare glimpse of play within a tradition more often centred on instruction. ⛪ Jessie Oonark often drew on Christian imagery but to see it carried onto an actual liturgical garment is something altogether different. Church, qulliq, igloo, hunter, and goose come together in a work that feels both recognizably Oonark and wonderfully unexpected. 🛶 Ennutsiak’s crowded scenes of communal life are among his great subjects, but umiaq migration scenes are considerably rarer in his output, and this example is especially inventive. Carved from a single piece of stone, with a kayaker paddling alongside the larger boat, it expands a familiar subject into something truly remarkable.

As we look ahead to our major sale of Inuit & First Nations Art, we are pleased to present this group of highlights from the forthcoming auction taking place Monday, June 1st. ✨ The auction will begin at 7:00 PM ET at our new home, 300-550 Queen Street East, Toronto 📍 Additional highlights may be viewed at the link in bio 🔗 We also warmly invite you to RSVP for our Welcome Reception on Saturday, May 30, following the preview exhibition. 🥂 Register at the link in bio or by calling 416-560-6348. 🌀Lot 46, Karoo Ashevak, “Dancing, Chanting Figure (with Mittens),” c. 1972/73 Compact, uncanny, and full of strange animation. This figure seems to hover rather than stand, with an open mouth that suggests song or chant. Karoo’s career was brief, but his impact on Inuit sculpture was extraordinary. 👐 Lot 43, Jack James, “Opposing Dzunuḵ̓wa Model Feast Bowl,” c. 1950-1960s An imposing feast dish with real sculptural force, these two seated Dzunuḵ̓wa figures face one another, their hands and feet meeting in a powerful compact exchange. Much of the surface is left unpainted, letting the carving speak powerfully for itself. 🦉 Lot 65, Kenojuak Ashevak, “Protective Bird, Crying Out with Upraised Wings” c. 1972 Broad, watchful, and wonderfully self-possessed. With raised wings, deeply set eyes, and finely incised feathering, this owl feels both firmly grounded and ready to lift. 👥Lot 71, Robert Ridley, “Pair of Hollow Back Model Totems,” c. 1924-34 A rare pair of model poles representing Raven and Eagle, the two principal Haida moieties. Made from old-growth red cedar and kept together for roughly a century, they are companion works by design and by history.

First Arts is pleased to present our April Online Auction of Inuit & First Nations Art ✨ This sale brings together a wide-ranging selection of historic and contemporary works from across North America. Highlights include a particularly strong group of Kangiqliniq ceramics 🏺, major works in whalebone, a commanding sculpture by Qaqaq Ashoona, and an exceptional monumental textile by Victoria Mamnguqsualuk. Northwest Coast material is especially rich this season featuring everything from historic carving to contemporary masterworks, including a canoe by Robert Ridley, a fine Late Trade argillite pipe, masks by Patrick Amos and Willie Hawkins , Robert Davidson’s celebrated Eagle print of 1979 , a rattle by Joe Peters Jr., an Isaac Tait model bowl, and a pair of Ba̱k’wa̱s and Dzunuḵ̓wa form model rattles by John Jacobson. The sale also includes a strong selection of works by artists associated with the Woodlands School 🍃 including an unusual relief-carved and painted antler work by Goyce Kakegamic, a mixed-media canvas by Jane Ash Poitras, and a thoughtful group of paintings and drawings Browse the auction online and join us in person for the preview ✨ We’d be delighted to welcome you ☎️ 647-286-5012 📩 [email protected]

We’re excited to share a first look at a selection of highlights from our upcoming live auction of Inuit & First Nations Art, taking place on June 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET at our new location, 550 Queen East, Suite 300, Toronto. ✨ Further details, including preview information and the release of the full catalogue, will be announced soon. ⏳ 🥣 Lot 33 | Nakaṕankam Mungo Martin, Dzunuḵ̓wa (Wild Woman) Figure with Articulated Arms and Dish, c. 1948 This articulated Dzunuḵ̓wa (Wild Woman of the Woods)figure is full of presence, with angled arms, large carved hands, and a classic face defined by sharp cheekbones, inward-turning eyes, and pursed red lips. Painted in black with yellow detailing and set on a rounded handmade base, it closely recalls a related example at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (2778/1 a-b), originally catalogued as a work by Ellen Neel and later reassessed by multiple experts as the work of Mungo Martin. As the museum notes, Neel sometimes sold carvings on her uncle’s behalf, which may help explain the earlier confusion and makes the present work all the more persuasive within Martin’s oeuvre. ⚖️ Lot 14 | Pauta Saila, R.C.A., Dancing Polar Bear, early-mid 1970s Held first in the Klamer Family Collection and later in the celebrated collection of John and Joyce Price, this Dancing Polar Bear brings with it an exceptional collecting history. The sculpture itself more than justifies that pedigree. One of Pauta’s most admired subjects, it distills the dancing bear to its essentials: a body pitched upward, a single leg bearing the full weight, and a lifted limb that gives the work its thrilling sense of animation and risk. Carved in a rich honey-brown stone, it has the authority, balance, and immediacy that make Pauta’s finest bears so memorable. See Lots 60 and 18 in the comments below! 🔽

With the season turning, we’re delighted to present the first of our spring auctions, our March Online Auction of Inuit & First Nations Art, closing at 2 PM ET on Thursday, 26 March 2026. This sale brings together an exceptional group of works that speaks to the range and originality of Indigenous art across North America. Highlights from this sale include: 🌷 🌷 🌷 🌀 Kenojuak Ashevak, Submerged Spirits builds its image through a succession of hovering forms that seem to turn and drift within one continuous field. Long, blade-like extensions carry the eye from figure to figure, while subtle shifts in colour give the surface depth, suspension, and a marvellous sense of movement. 🪶 Jack James, Loon and Sisiyutł compresses headdress imagery into a sharply profiled plaque whose silhouette carries much of the work’s force. The loon’s wing and tail are defined through carved intaglio passages, while the serpent head emerges from the side as an embedded presence within the larger form. White ground paint sets off the red, green, orange, and black details with unusual boldness. 🌊 Napachie Pootoogook, Eskimo Sea Dreams sets human activity and supernatural transformation within the same luminous blue field. The composition unfolds as a kind of double vision, where daily life and oral tradition occupy the same space without contradiction, giving the image its vivid narrative and imaginative charge. 🔗 Visit the link in bio for the full catalogue and preview details.

First Arts is now in the final consignment period for our Spring 2026 Live Auction of Inuit & First Nations Art. 🌿🗓️ If you are considering inclusion in this catalogue sale, we invite you to contact a member of our team for a complimentary, confidential valuation of your property. We also continue to accept consignments for our season-long program of exhibitions and auctions. ⏰ Spring Sale Consignment Deadline: Friday 20 March 2026 With team members based in Toronto, Vancouver, and the Montréal area, we can arrange a no-obligation visit, or review photographs remotely and provide initial feedback. 📞 647-286-5012 ✉️ [email protected] 📸Pictured: Mungo Martin, “Dzunuḵ̓wa (Wild Woman) Figure with Bowl,” to be offered in our Spring Live 2026 Sale

We’re pleased to present our February Online Auction ✨🗓️ This catalogue draws together a concise, well-chosen group of works from across North America: Northwest Coast woven and wood works set alongside a strong selection of Inuit prints, sculpture, and drawings. We’d love for you to spend time looking through gallery. As always, enquiries are welcome throughout the preview by phone or email. ✨ 📌 Link in bio for the full catalogue and preview details.

Greetings from snowy, deep freeze Toronto! I am writing from our new space at 550 Queen Street East, Suite 300, with the preview exhibition set up and the weather squalling and pressing up against the windows. Unsurprisingly, I am one of the few who ventured out in the snow today but as a result, I have had the pleasure of taking in the setup for our January Online Auction slowly and on my own. In the course of installing the preview and now stepping back to look at it properly, a few works kept drawing me in. There is a great deal to love in this sale, but here are some favourites, in no particular order. Nadine