Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Genuine 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 splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some 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 showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to choose that they would like to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as extremely special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later on that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown tourist areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art https://kurtcriter.wordpress.com/ but none of the other typical traveler mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle fakes or imitations . Simply to be even much safer, ensure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian federal 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 authentic pieces are signed. Be mindful that an unsigned piece may still be undoubtedly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason needs to 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 shelves will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag showing that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, proceed. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate 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 bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely 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 buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.