Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major 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 various retail shops and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they would like to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as really unique presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't really authentic and 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 fantastic art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown tourist locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other usual traveler mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or replicas . Just to be even safer, make certain that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So be aware that an unsigned he has a good point piece may still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind Extra resources piece of art work and nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes harder to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and find are usually kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries 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 fantastic art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely 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 likewise have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.