Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of 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 global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler replica, the question occurs on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't really genuine and 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 wonderful art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the trustworthy galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other usual tourist keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture might 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 sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine 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 for that reason 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 shelves will look precisely 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 unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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 carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, move on. Kurt Criter Denver The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form 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 terrific artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 sites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.