Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant 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 stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their houses or as extremely special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler imitation, the concern arises on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't really authentic and 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 wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe places to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the respectable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted 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 mementos such as tee 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 likewise have websites 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 trusted online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting 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 authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features 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 genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Given that Inuit art has from this source been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and go right here galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful 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. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally 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 likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.