Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved 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 traveler areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as very unique gifts for others. Presuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the concern develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't really genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful 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 shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the credible galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. 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 normal tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or fakes . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying 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 authentic pieces are signed. So be aware that an unsigned piece may still be indeed genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might 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 reputable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good option for purchasing Inuit art since the rates are generally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when dealing with an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some traveler shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should 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 store racks will look exactly like it.
Where it ends up being harder to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise 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 type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it More Info was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate 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 local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 sites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.