Tips on Ways To Purchase and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as very unique gifts for others. Assuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost tourist imitation, the concern develops on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't authentic 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 terrific artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown tourist areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Simply to be even safer, ensure that the piece you have an interest in comes with 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 genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an anonymous piece may still be indeed genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for purchasing Inuit art because the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also feature the official Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some traveler stores do carry genuine 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 for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it.
Where it ends up being more difficult to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag Kurt Criter Denver suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not genuine. 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, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the Kurt Criter greatest priced and are normally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling 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 local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.