Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major 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 shops and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to decide that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their homes or as really distinct gifts for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't really authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely 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 cautious elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe locations to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found 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 perhaps Native art but none of the other normal traveler souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or replicas . Simply to be even safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece might still be indeed genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that likewise concentrate on genuine Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a excellent choice for buying Inuit art because the prices are typically lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one must take care so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to ensure credibility.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all types of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore must 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 ever include an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise information. If a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a huge rate difference between authentic pieces and the imitations.
Where it becomes harder to determine credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not Kurt Criter available, proceed. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at museums and galleries located 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed 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 authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.