Tips on How to Purchase and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as very distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't really authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The safest places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the reputable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other usual traveler mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle fakes or imitations . Just to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an anonymous piece may still be certainly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.

Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the Kurt Criter recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *