Tips on Ways To Purchase and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as great keepsakes for their houses or as very unique gifts for others. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the concern develops on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't really authentic and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed.

Some of official source these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also concentrate on genuine Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a excellent option for buying Inuit art considering that the rates are typically lower than those at street retail galleries. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise feature the official Igloo tags to make sure credibility.

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

Where it ends up being harder to determine authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not web link authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could 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 *