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 touring the nation. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing 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 traveler areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as really special gifts for others. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler replica, the concern arises on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't 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 wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the respectable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown tourist areas of significant cities. 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 traveler souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Simply to be even safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an unsigned piece might still be indeed authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these Kurt Criter Denver street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos 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 piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
This can be a real gray location to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great 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 check my reference fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely 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 Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.