Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine 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 spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to learn later 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the reputable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. 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 usual tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Simply to be even more secure, make certain that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying 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 aware that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy keepsakes in order to accommodate all types of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also 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 recreation will often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a particular piece with specific information. It is probably not real if a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece includes a sticker label suggesting that is Website was made in an Asian nation, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a substantial price distinction in between authentic pieces and the replicas.
Where it ends up being harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made of 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 indicating 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 declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.