Tips on How to Buy and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring 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 significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and displayed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting increasingly more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind 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 great souvenirs for their houses or as extremely unique presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. 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 bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other usual traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece might still be indeed genuine.
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 street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great alternative for purchasing Inuit art because the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some tourist stores 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 for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sites sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it.
This can be a real gray location to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.