Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their homes or as very special gifts for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, 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 genuine. One would need to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted 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 just Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine 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 focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art considering that the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.
Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are likewise made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag indicating that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that find more look too comparable in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, carry on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.