Selections from the de Weerdt Collection

Marion Scott Gallery is pleased to present this exhibition of works from the collection of Mr. Justice Mark Murray
de Weerdt (1928-2003). Born in Cologne, Germany, and educated at universities in Scotland and Canada, de Weerdt’s early employment included stints with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the federal justice department in Ottawa. In 1958, he was offered a job as Crown counsel of the Northwest Territories (which at that time included Nunavut as well). The position required him to relocate to Yellowknife, the territorial capitol. De Weerdt’s arrival there marked the beginning of a long career in the northern legal profession, culminating in his appointment in 1981 as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, a post he retained until his transfer to the British Columbia Supreme Court in 1996.

The pieces in the de Weerdt Collection cover a wide geographical area: the present exhibition includes exceptional work from communitites including Repulse Bay, Rankin Inlet, Arviat and Puvirnituq. The largest concentration of work, however, comes from Kinngait, a community de Weerdt visited often. Among the many outstanding pieces in the exhibition, the owl-human transformation by Latcholassie Akesuk and the exquisitely crafted image of a fish by Peesee Oshuitoq, both dating from the early 1960s, stand out for their monumental grace. Also included are a number of modestly scaled works depicting the legendary Inuit sea goddess, Sedna, an always popular subject with Kinngait carvers. As a group in the overall exhibition, these unique early sculptures capture an important historical phase of art making in that community.