When most people think about stone sculptures, it’s probably giant pieces of abstract art located outside large buildings or perhaps inside a famous art gallery or museum. Sometimes people think of stone sculptures as the ancient Roman or Greek mythological characters like Apollo, Venus or Zeus. For contemporary fine art, many see stone sculpture only for serious collectors or for the rich and famous to display in their well kept mansions. Most individuals, even avid art fans, rarely think about or are even aware of Inuit stone sculptures from the Canadian Arctic north.
The Inuit people (formerly referred to as Eskimos in Canada) have been carving stone sculptures for thousands of years but it was only introduced as fine art to the modern world on a significant scale during the 1950s. Today, Inuit stone sculptures have gained international recognition as a valid form of contemporary fine art. Even so, most people who are aware of Inuit stone sculptures are those who have visited Canada in the past and got exposed to this interesting form of aboriginal art while visiting Canadian museums or galleries.
If you haven’t seen Inuit stone sculpture, there’s a lot to offer from the Canadian Arctic. The Inuit do some very realistic sculptures of the Arctic wildlife they are so intimately familiar with. These include seals, walruses, birds and of course, the mighty polar bears. Human subjects depicting the Inuit Arctic lifestyle are also popular as stone sculptures. One can see pieces showing hunters, fisherman and even Inuit mothers with their children. The stone sculptures can come in a variety of different colors including black, brown, grey, white and green. Some pieces are highly polished and shiny while others retain the rougher, primitive look. Styles can vary depending upon where in the Arctic the Inuit sculptors are located.
An Inuit stone sculpture can definitely be integrated into one’s home d