Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional 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 mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe places to shop for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are constantly the trustworthy galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or imitations . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English click this or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an unsigned piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now check my reference respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it.
Where it ends up being harder to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see other the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted 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 however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.