Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their houses or as really special presents for others. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist imitation, the concern develops on how does one differentiate the real thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is lucky 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 authentic. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only Kurt Criter authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with fakes or imitations . Simply to be even safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be conscious that an anonymous piece may still be indeed authentic.

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

Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.

Where it becomes harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag showing that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.


Given that Inuit art has been getting more Kurt Criter and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop 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 *