Tips on How to Buy 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 visiting the country. These are the stunning handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their houses or as very distinct presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to get an genuine 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 quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover 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 wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, particularly 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 safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are constantly 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 noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other usual tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Just to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade 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 conscious that an anonymous piece may still be certainly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine 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 must have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
This can be a real gray location to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such her response as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted 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 sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.