Tips on How to Buy and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. 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 significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as great keepsakes for their homes or as very special presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap traveler imitation, the question emerges on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't genuine and even 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 artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other normal tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as Kurt Criter Denver they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Simply to be even safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that Kurt Criter Denver it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an unsigned piece may still be certainly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great choice for purchasing Inuit art given that the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes harder to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade however if there are other pieces discover this info here on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located 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 safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also 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 but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.