Tips on How to Buy and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as extremely special presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the trusted 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.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal tourist souvenirs such as tee shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should have some Bonuses weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.
Where it ends up being harder to determine credibility are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not available, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.
Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Kurt Criter Denver Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.