Unlike Inuit sculpture, art prints from the Canadian Arctic are a twentieth century innovation in Inuit Eskimo art. 1 of the most substantial occasions that occurred throughout the development of contemporary Inuit art was when Canadian James Houston taught the Inuit to make art prints by incising designs into linoleum tiles, stone blocks and stencils from sealskins. He had formerly studied printmaking in Japan because the Japanese had been regarded as innovators in this art procedure.

1 day in 1957, Houston met up with a local Inuit art carver by the title of Osuitok Ipeelee in Cape Dorset. Ipeelee had been studying the identical printed images of a sailor’s head on two cigarette packages he had. Houston demonstrated the procedure of printmaking to the Inuit carver by rubbing ink onto 1 of Ipeelee’s ivory tusk carvings and created an impression of it on a piece of toilet paper. On viewing the resulting graphic, the Inuit artist stated, “We could do that.” This resulted in the birth of Eskimo Inuit art prints.

The Cape Dorset Inuit artists soon integrated the new print generating techniques into their Inuit art and by 1960, their printmaking was a growing business. Eskimo Inuit art prints by early artists these kinds of as Pitseolak Ashoona and Jamasie Teevee became much sought after artwork. Simply because of the success of Cape Dorset, other Inuit communities had been encouraged to adhere to its example. So in addition to Inuit sculpture, art prints became another form of Eskimo Inuit art that found commercial success. Cape Dorset has an yearly release of Inuit art prints every yr and often market out. An additional Inuit neighborhood recognized for their Inuit art prints is Holman.

Clint Leung is proprietor of Free Spirit Gallery http://www.newsletterjournal.com, an on-line gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has several information resource articles with pictures of genuine Inuit and Native Indian art as nicely as free eCards.