Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting increasingly more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as really special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't genuine or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other typical traveler mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 sites so you might shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Criter online galleries that also specialize in genuine 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 sculpted from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that check out this site such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not available, proceed. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication 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 genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.