Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. These are the spectacular 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 international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to choose that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their homes or as very special gifts for others. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler imitation, the question arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or fakes . Just to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing 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 authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an unsigned piece might still be certainly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a excellent option for purchasing Inuit art considering that the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when dealing with an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also feature the main Igloo tags to make sure credibility.
Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted 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 artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes harder to identify credibility are with the recreations that are likewise made from 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 type of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information read more on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate 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 acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted 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 genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.