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

Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures carved 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 locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as very unique presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler replica, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't really authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, especially 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 sold.

The best locations to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the trusted galleries that concentrate 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 likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as tee shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.

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

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


Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 fantastic art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 sites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.