Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted 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 areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to choose that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as very unique presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really authentic or 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 wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that concentrate 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 listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler areas of major 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 typical tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or replicas . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an anonymous piece may still be certainly genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a good alternative for purchasing Inuit art considering that the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also come with the main Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.
Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to 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 exactly like it.
Where it ends up being harder to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. More Bonuses This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might 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 authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will know 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 official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.