Tips on How to Purchase and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of 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 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 numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting increasingly more global exposure, people might 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 choose that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as very distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive tourist replica, the question develops on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely assumed 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 somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Just to be even much safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an unsigned piece may still be certainly authentic.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a good alternative for buying Inuit art given that the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like it like other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to make sure credibility.
Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all types of tourists. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A reproduction made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will sometimes have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An authentic 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. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific details, the piece is not genuine. If a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a big rate difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Kurt Criter Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling 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. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.