Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and displayed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries 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 good keepsakes for their houses or as really special presents for others. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the concern emerges on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist areas 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 locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the respectable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other usual traveler souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 likewise have websites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent choice for buying Inuit art because the prices are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also feature the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to accommodate all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A recreation made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will often have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with specific details, the piece is not authentic. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece includes a Kurt Criter sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is clearly a phony. There will also be a big cost distinction in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it becomes more difficult to determine authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not available, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.