Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine 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 magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted 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 areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to decide that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as extremely unique presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other usual traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Simply to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be mindful that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise concentrate on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art considering that the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.
Some tourist stores do carry genuine 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 for that reason ought to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.
This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on Kurt Criter Denver the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals 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 wonderful artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated totally useful source 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 might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.