Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to choose that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as great keepsakes for their houses or as very special gifts for others. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one differentiate the real thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't really genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest places to buy Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other usual tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Just to be even more secure, ensure that the additional resources piece you have an interest in features a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. So understand that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also concentrate on genuine Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great alternative for purchasing Inuit art considering that the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise include pop over here the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.

Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it.

This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The authentic 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.


Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated 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 art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or Kurt Criter directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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