Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one inform apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't genuine or even made in Canada. 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these resource street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to 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.
Where it becomes harder to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are also 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 showing that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has been getting more read review and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. 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 also have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.