Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major 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 various retail stores and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to choose that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their homes or as very unique presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler replica, the concern develops on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful in other places in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest places to buy Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with fakes or replicas . Simply to be even safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting 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. So be aware that an anonymous piece may still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise 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 trustworthy online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.
Where it ends up being more difficult to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however moved here if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo Homepage tag is not readily available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art kind at museums and galleries situated 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely 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 websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.