Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the splendid 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 locations popular with worldwide 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 more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they would like to acquire Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as really distinct gifts for others. Presuming that the intention is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, 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 careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the trusted galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture might 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 could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art given that the prices are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one should be careful so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise come with the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some traveler shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made from 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 company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. An authentic 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 certain piece with exact details, the piece is not authentic. It is probably not real if a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a fake. There will also be a big cost distinction between authentic pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being more difficult to figure out authenticity are with the reproductions 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 may even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares 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 carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, proceed. Kurt Criter The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely 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 likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.