Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. 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 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 increasingly more global 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 tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their houses or as extremely unique gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist imitation, the concern emerges on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 tourist keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture might 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 could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it.
Where it ends up being harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are Recommended Reading likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted 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 claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.
Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. 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 likewise have sites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.