Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring 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 a few of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their homes or as extremely special gifts for others. Presuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't really genuine or 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 artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler locations 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 purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal traveler mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Just to be even safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in includes 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 genuine pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece might still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that likewise focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent option for buying Inuit art since the prices are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to ensure credibility.

Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well my website as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.

Where it becomes more difficult to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has Kurt Criter Denver been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live you can look here and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely 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 likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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