Tips on How to Buy and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures

Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 acquire Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost tourist imitation, the question emerges on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate 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 directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically 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 maybe Native art however none of the other usual tourist keepsakes 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 . Simply to be even more secure, make sure that the 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 may be signed by the more tips here carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. So know that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise 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 trusted online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Kurt Criter Denver Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.

This can be a genuine gray location to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely 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 also have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.