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



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the objective is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one inform apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown tourist areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or imitations . Simply to be even much safer, ensure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.

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

Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone site and therefore should 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 shop racks will look exactly like it.

Where it ends up being more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such Kurt Criter Denver as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely 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 authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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