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. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted 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 tourist areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they would like to acquire Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as extremely unique gifts for others. Presuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist replica, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Just to be even safer, make certain that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying 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 authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece might still be certainly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Genuine 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 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 artwork and nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a certain piece with Kurt Criter specific details. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will also be a huge rate distinction between authentic pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being more difficult to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian like this great art form at galleries and museums located 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 art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated 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 genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.