Tips on How to Buy and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing 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 international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as really special gifts for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler 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 offered.
The most safe places to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other usual tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise focus on genuine Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great choice for purchasing Inuit art given that the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to ensure credibility.
Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is great site also cold to the touch. A recreation made from 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 genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise details. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece includes a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will also be a big price distinction between genuine pieces and the imitations.
This can be a genuine gray location to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely 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 could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.