Tips on Ways To Buy and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the concern emerges on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't really genuine or perhaps 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 regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally 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 traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail Kurt Criter Denver specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all types of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will in some cases have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact details, the piece is not genuine. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will also be a huge price difference in between authentic pieces and the imitations.
Where it becomes more difficult to determine 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 may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not available, carry on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.
Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.