Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really authentic 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 wonderful art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. 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 normal traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . 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 sites so you might go shopping 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 likewise concentrate on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a good alternative for purchasing Inuit art since the prices are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when dealing with an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise include the main Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.
Some traveler shops 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 therefore must have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great https://www.spokeo.com/Kurt-Criter/Colorado art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely 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 also have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.