Tips on How to Buy and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't really authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for buying Inuit art given that the prices are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise include the main Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic 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 exactly like it.
This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask 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 official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely Kurt Criter Denver 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 also have sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.