Tips on Ways To Purchase and Purchase Authentic 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 stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the significant 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 various retail stores and displayed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting increasingly more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as extremely special gifts for others. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive tourist replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't really authentic 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 terrific artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Just to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade 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 understand that an unsigned piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and buy 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 also specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to deal with all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A reproduction 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 often have a company 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 artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with precise information, the piece is not genuine. If a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is undoubtedly a fake. There will also be a big price distinction between authentic pieces and the replicas.

This can be a real gray location to those Kurt Criter unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated 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 might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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