Tips on Ways To Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing 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 areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they would like to acquire Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their homes or as really unique gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist replica, the question develops on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on 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 terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional 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 traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to buy Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . 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 house anywhere in the world. In addition to these Kurt Criter Denver street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore must 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 shop racks will look exactly like it.
Where it ends up being harder to figure out 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 kind of tag showing that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably 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, place where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums situated 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 safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally 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 also have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.