They have charmed visitors to the Arctic for centuries, and today stone carvings by the Inuit people of Canada are treasured by collectors worldwide. They come in a rich array of sizes and materials, and today in themes as well. While rooted in the ancient past of the Inuit, these modern works can stand beside any of the world’s finest contemporary art. Yet, almost all of the sculpture, even the most abstract and progressive, retains a distinctive look and feel that harks back to the windswept and snow-covered realm of the Great White North. They are distinctly Inuit, and speak volumes about the aesthetic tastes and the values of these remarkable people.

Viewed under the Western gaze, Inuit art is invariably connected to a faraway, ancient, unspoiled past. However, this conception says more about a romantic desire for pre-industrialized life than it does about contemporary Inuit life. While Canada’s Inuit do have a rich visual history that dates back more than a millennium, Inuit carvings, prints and jewelry are actually the product of a relatively recent transformation in the Arctic, beginning with the emergence of an “outside” market during the whaling years, which gave rise to the birth of the contemporary Inuit art movement starting in 1949.

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