Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their homes or as extremely unique gifts for others. Presuming that the intention is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really authentic or 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are constantly the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. 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 . 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 sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece might still be indeed genuine.
A few Kurt Criter Denver of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. Due to the fact that of lower overheads, these online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art considering that the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one need to be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the main Igloo tags to make sure credibility.
Some tourist shops do carry genuine Inuit art along with the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic 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 sometimes have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact information, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will likewise be a huge rate difference between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being harder to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not available, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type 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 wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely 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 websites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.