Tips on How to Buy and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their homes or as really unique gifts for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the concern emerges on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover 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 art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the respectable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant 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 usual tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Simply to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you have an interest in includes 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 authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece might still be indeed authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it.
This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that read this article such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art form 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication 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 authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.