Sell Inuit Art Through Auction

The sell Inuit art through auction is a substantial source of income for many artists, and it can help them supplement the family income. For some, that supplemental income is essential for their wellbeing and the wellbeing of others in their community. The high cost of living in the north — where food can be up to three times as expensive as south of the border (Nunavut Bureau of Statistics, 2015) — makes every additional dollar earned from art sales especially valuable.

How to Sell Inuit Art Through Auction

The 2015 economic impact of Inuit visual arts and crafts, which includes both the income generated by artist producers for themselves and their families and the spin-off impacts from other sources such as the purchase of inputs, amounted to more than $9 million. In Inuit Nunangat, which included more than 2,100 full-time equivalent jobs.

Auctions provide an opportunity to bring Inuit artwork directly to the public. The two main auction houses that specialize in Inuit art, Walker’s and Waddington’s, conduct semi-annual events, but other auction houses may also sell Inuit art on an irregular basis.

Four pieces fetched between CA$20,000 and $40,000 apiece at a recent auction organized by First Arts in Toronto. The auction included a 1950s carving by Henry Evaluardjuk that sold for $38,400 and what First Arts’ Nadine Di Monte believes is a record price for the work of another Inuit artist, Kenojuak Ashevak, whose 1970 print “The Enchanted Owl” was printed on a Canadian six-cent stamp.