Tips on How to Buy and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their homes or as really unique presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to shop for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are constantly the reliable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, Kurt Criter make sure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.
Some tourist shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it.
This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.