Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to choose that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their houses or as really unique presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the concern arises 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 that it isn't genuine or perhaps 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 artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs 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 ensure credibility are constantly the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Just to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted 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 mindful that an unsigned piece might still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for buying Inuit art because the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one must take care so when dealing with an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also feature the official Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some tourist shops do carry genuine Inuit art along with the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A reproduction 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 ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work 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 genuine. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too perfect in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece includes a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is clearly a fake. There will likewise be a huge cost difference in between authentic pieces and the imitations.
This can be a real gray location to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes Kurt Criter Denver with it which will have details on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals may 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 fantastic art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. 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 shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.