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 exploring 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 traveler locations 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 been getting increasingly more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the concern arises on how does one differentiate the real thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious in other places 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 safest places to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or replicas . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an unsigned piece might still be indeed authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic 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 specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore must have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it.
This can be a real gray location to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask Kurt Criter to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip 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 regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.