Tips on Ways 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 splendid 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 areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as really unique presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't genuine and even 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 safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the trusted galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other typical tourist mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Simply to be even much safer, ensure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian 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 however not all genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an anonymous piece may still be certainly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine 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 absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.
This can be a real gray area to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest Kurt Criter Denver priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries 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 terrific artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.